Multidimensional mass spectrometry of serum and  cellular lipids directly from biologic extracts

ABSTRACT

A method for determination of at least one of the lipid species in a biological sample comprising subjecting the sample to lipid extraction to obtain a lipid extract and subjecting the resulting lipid extract to multidimensional electrospray ionization mass spectrometry using either precursor ion or neutral loss scanning (or both) of all naturally occurring aliphatic chains, lipid fragments and precursor ions leading to observed fragments to generate a multidimensional matrix whose contour densities provides structural and quantitative information directly without chromatography. A method for determination of lipid content and/or lipid molecular species composition and quantity directly from lipid extracts of a biological sample comprising subjecting said lipid extract to electrospray ionization multidimensional mass spectrometry by comparisons to standards and algorithms described herein.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of U.S. nonprovisional patentapplication Ser. No. 10/797,616, filed Mar. 10, 2004, which is acontinuation in part of pending U.S. nonprovisional patent applicationSer. No. 10/606,601, filed Jun. 26, 2003, which has issued as U.S. Pat.No. 7,306,952 and which claims priority to U.S. provisional patentapplication 60/391,711 filed Jun. 26, 2002, and claims the benefit ofU.S. provisional patent application 60/458,733 filed Mar. 28, 2003 allof which are incorporated by reference in their entirety.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

This work was supported by grants from NIH including grants W/H P01HL57278/JDFI 996003, R02HL41250, RO1 AA11094, P41-RR00954, P60-DK20579,and P30-DK56341. The government has certain rights in the invention.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to a method of analysis for lipidsincluding triglycerides and other mentioned cellular lipids in abiological sample. More particularly this invention relates to a methodfor analysis and individual molecular species quantification oftriglycerides and other cellular lipids in a biological sample.

This invention also relates to the fingerprinting detection, diagnosisand treatment of triglycerides and other cellular lipids in blood,vessels, atheroma, liver, stool and other body tissues as well asbiopsies of body organs such as a liver or a muscle biopsy.

This invention also relates to a method of determining the risk to anindividual of TG molecular species as an independent factor in thedevelopment of coronary artery disease, stroke, atherosclerosis andobesity as well as to target agents to selectively modify triglyceride(hereinafter “TG”) molecular species.

This invention also relates to the fingerprinting, detection, diagnosisand treatment of triglycerides in blood, liver, stool, sputum and otherbody tissues as well as biopsies of body organs such as a liver or amuscle biopsy. Also this invention relates to a method of screeningdrugs to determine those lipid modulating drugs which are efficacious inclinical trials and to monitor the response of patients to a specificdrug therapy to determine the best or optimum drug for each patient.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Triglycerides comprise linear combinations of aliphatic chainscovalently attached to a glycerol backbone. Triglycerides serve as vitalsources of cellular energy and caloric potential in living organisms.Recent work has provided unambiguous evidence of the importance of totaltriglycerides as a lipid class to the development of heart disease,stroke, obesity and diabetes in humans all of which are life takingdiseases which take a staggering toll of human lives each year.Additionally, such afflictions destroy or significantly reduce thequality of life even if not immediately fatal.

Triglycerides (TG) includes molecules of glycerol esterified with threefatty acids. TG have a glycerol backbone structure while the associatedfatty acids are predominately unsaturated. Dihydroxyacetone phosphate(DHAP) or glycerophosphate produced during glycolysis is the precursorfor triacylglycerol synthesis (Triacylglycerides are triglycerides) inmammalian cells including adipocytes and hepatocytes.

In mammals, complex and diverse mechanisms have evolved to regulate theTG content in serum, the delivery of fatty acids derived from serum TGmolecular species to cells (e.g., lipoprotein lipase and fatty acidtransport protein), and the intracellular storage of fatty acids byesterification to a glycerol backbone for subsequent storage as TGmolecular species. It is highly desired to be able to readily determinethe identity of TG molecular species along with their respectivequantity present in biological samples including living mammalian andplant samples. In many such areas of research and medical therapy it isdesired and necessary to analyze large and increasing numbers ofbiological samples in an enhanced fashion such as those samplescomprising TG molecular species.

For at least the aforegoing reasons biological analytical methods whichreadily and directly identify and quantify TG molecular species inbiological samples will be an integral and vital part of research whichproduces discoveries of benefit to mankind in the biochemistry of plantsand animals dealing with coronary artery disease, stroke,atherosclerosis and obesity. Accordingly an enhanced analysis of suchbiological samples is needed which provides a TG molecular speciesprofile.

The TG molecular species profile reflects the nutritional and metabolichistory of each cell as well as its anticipated energy storagerequirements. Alterations in TG molecular species synthesis andcatabolism have been demonstrated to play prominent roles in obesity,atherosclerosis, insulin release from pancreatic p cells, andalcohol-induced hepatic dysfunction (1-7). Moreover, recent studies haveidentified the importance of alterations in intracellular triglyceridesas a potential mediator of diabetic cardiomyopathy (5,8).

Although some studies have measured total TG molecular species contentin multiple different disease states, a paucity of information on TGmolecular species changes during pathophysiological alterations isavailable. The first detailed molecular species analyses of TG indiabetic rat myocardium demonstrated a dramatic alteration in TGmolecular species composition without substantial changes in TG mass(8). Accordingly, it seems likely that changes in TG molecular speciescomposition also contributes to the pathophysiological sequelae of otherdisease states.

Previous attempts at direct TG quantitation by positive-ion electrosprayionization mass spectrometry (ESI/MS) were undesirably confounded by thepresence of overlapping peaks from choline glycerophospholipidsrequiring chromatographic separation of lipid extracts prior to ESI/MSanalyses. Thus it is highly desired to have an enhanced method andsystem for determining TG content in various living mammalian and plantcellular systems which obviates the chromatographic separation processrequirement. Moreover, isobaric molecular species present in allbiological tissues prevent determination of individual molecular speciesof triglycerides from molecular weight determinations alone.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In a first embodiment, a method for the determination of lipid such asTG individual (i.e. separate) molecular species composition of matter ina biological sample comprises subjecting the biological sample to lipidextraction to obtain a lipid extract and subjecting the lipid extract toelectrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI/MS/MS) providinglipid such as TG molecular species composition as a useful outputdetermination.

Lipids are essential cellular constituents that have multiple distinctyet critical roles in cellular function. Lipids provide an impermeablebarrier which separate intracellular and extracellular compartmentswithout which life and self-renewal would be impossible. Moreover,lipids concurrently provide a matrix for the appropriate interactions ofmembrane-associated proteins to interact with each other as well aspromote interactions of membrane proteins with cognate intra- andextracellular binding partners. Finally biologic membranes serve asstorage reservoirs for biologically active 2nd messengers (eicosanoids,diglycerides, ceramides, etc.) that allow each cell to effectivelyrespond to internal and external stimuli. Biologic membranes fulfillthese multiple functions through the synthesis of multiple distinctcovalent entities each with its unique structural and physicalcharacteristics. The inherent chemical diversity present in biologiclipids is achieved through multiple discrete covalent assemblies oflipid backbone (typically glycerol) with linear combinations of variousaliphatic chains (typically 14-22 carbons long containing variableamounts of unsaturation). This biologic diversity facilitates thespecific tailoring of individual cellular responses to alterations incellular nutrient status, metabolic history and signaling events.Accordingly, many groups have rigorously pursued the identification ofalterations in cellular lipid constituents to identify the chemicalmechanisms underlying such diverse diseases as obesity, atherosclerosisand lipotoxicity now endemic in industrialized populations.

The precise complement of chemically distinct covalent entities incellular lipids has been referred to as the cellular lipidome. Researchin lipidomics incorporates multiple different techniques to firstquantify the precise chemical constituents present in the cellularlipidome, determine their subcellular organization (subcellular membranecompartments and microdomains) and delineate lipid-lipid andlipid-protein conformational space and dynamics. Through these methods,the role of lipids in biologic processes can ultimately be determined.The first step in global lipidomics is to obtain a detailed account ofthe precise chemical entities (i.e. composition of matter) present in acell's lipidome and identify alterations that precipitate, or areassociated with, phenotypic alterations after cellular perturbation.

In an aspect, a method for the determination of lipid such as TGindividual (i.e. separate) molecular species composition of matterdirectly from a lipid extract of a biological sample comprisessubjecting the lipid extract to electrospray ionization tandem massspectrometry using neutral loss scanning and two dimensional (ormultidimensional) density contour analysis.

In an aspect, neutral loss scanning is used with electrospray ionizationtandem mass spectrometry.

In an aspect, at least one of lipid and TG content is obtained bysumming and obtaining the total of the TG individual (i.e. separate)molecular species.

In an aspect, the inventive concept comprises analyzing a biologicalsample using electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry(ESI/MS/MS) and performing a two dimensional (or multidimensional)analysis with cross peak contour analysis on the output of the ESI/MS/MSto provide a fingerprint of at least one of lipid or triglycerideindividual (i.e. separate) molecular species. In an aspect, lipid suchas (TG) content is obtained by summing and obtaining the total of thelipid or TG individual (i.e. separate) molecular species.

In an aspect, a diagnostic kit for the determination of triglyceridemolecular species in a biological sample comprises components suitablefor carrying out at least one of a method for the determination oftriglyceride (TG) content and/or molecular species composition of matterin a mammalian and plant biological sample comprises subjecting saidbiological sample to lipid extraction to obtain a lipid extract andsubjecting the lipid extract to electrospray ionization tandem massspectrometry (ESI/MS/MS) using neutral loss scanning providing as outputthe TG content and a method for the determination of triglyceridecontent and/or molecular species directly from a lipid extract of abiological sample comprising subjecting the lipid extract toelectrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry using neutral lossscanning.

In an aspect, the kit is housed in a container.

In an aspect, a method for assessing a risk to each (individual) subject(or group of individuals) based on lipid including TG molecular speciesas an independent factor in the development of at least one condition inthat individual for a medical condition selected from coronary arterydisease, stroke, atherosclerosis and obesity which comprises analyzing abiological sample of an individual for TG molecular speciesdetermination, administering of a drug to the individual, analyzing acorresponding biological sample of said administered to treatedindividual for TG molecular species determination, comparing the TGmolecular species determination after drug administration with the TGmolecular species determination prior to drug administration anddetermining a risk therefrom associated with that individual. In anaspect, the comparison of the TG molecular species determination of thebiological samples is predictive of the likelihood of development of thecondition for that subject and its prevention by tailored drug therapy.

In an aspect, the comparison is indicative of a predisposition of anindividual to develop a condition. In an aspect, the condition is adesirable condition. In an aspect the condition is an undesirablecondition. In an aspect, the condition is a medical condition which isdesirable or undesirable. In an aspect, a desirable medical condition isa lowered triglyceride content of a human's blood.

In an aspect, a method for determining an agent which selectivelytargets lipid i.e. triglyceride molecular species (e.g., saturatedtriglycerides) comprises analyzing a biological sample of at least oneindividual for TG molecular species determination, administering atherapeutic amount of a drug to the individual, analyzing a biologicalsample of said administered individual for TG molecular speciesdetermination, comparing the TG molecular species determination aftersaid administration with the TG molecular species determination prior tothe drug administration and determining an effect if any on theindividual of the drug administration. In an aspect, the comparison ofthe TG molecular species determination of the biological samples isindicative of development of the condition for that (treated)individual.

In an aspect, a method of identifying a candidate lipid modulating drughaving lipid modulating drug efficacy comprises selecting a biologicalsample to be taken, analyzing a biological sample of at least oneindividual for lipid i.e. TG molecular species determination,administering of a candidate lipid modulating drug to the individual,analyzing a biological sample of treated individual, comparing the TGmolecular species determination after said administration with the TGmolecular species determination prior to the drug administration anddetermining an effect on the individual of the drug administration. Inan aspect, the comparison of TG analysis is indicative of the efficacy alipid modulating capacity of an administered drug.

In an aspect, a method to diagnose and determine the response ofpatients to tailored drug therapy comprises analyzing a biologicalsample taken of at least one individual for lipid i.e. TG molecularspecies determination, administering a drug to the patient (hereinaftertreated patient), analyzing a biological sample taken of the treatedpatient for TG molecular species determination, comparing the TGmolecular species determination after the administration with the TGmolecular species determination prior to the drug administration anddetermining an effect on the individual of the drug administration. Inan aspect, the comparison of TG molecular species determination(analysis) is indicative of the efficacy a tailored drug therapy. Inseveral aspects, the effect comprises a positive effect, a negativeeffect and no effect.

In an aspect, a method of screening candidate chemicals for lipidmodulating potential in a subject comprises analyzing a biologicalsample of at least one individual for lipid i.e. TG molecular speciesdetermination, administering a therapeutic amount of a drug to thatbiological subject, analyzing a biological sample taken from theadministered to subject for TG molecular species determination,comparing the TG molecular species determination after saidadministration with the TG molecular species determination prior to thedrug administration and determining an effect if any on the subject ofthe drug administration. In an aspect, the comparison of TG analysis isindicative of the efficacy a candidate chemical having a lipidmodulating potential.

In an aspect, a method of treating a subject comprises analyzing abiological sample taken of that subject for lipid i.e. TG molecularspecies determination by a method comprising ESI/MS/MS with neutral lossscanning and two dimensional (or multidimensional) contour analysis. Inan aspect, the subject is human.

In an another aspect, a medical treatment comprises analyzing abiological sample taken of a subject for lipid i.e. TG molecularanalysis by ESI/MS/MS. In an aspect the medical treatment is for ahuman.

In an aspect, a method of customizing drug therapy for a subjectcomprises analyzing a biological sample taken of the subject for lipidi.e. TG molecular species determination by ESI/MS/MS and adjusting thesubject's drug therapy based on the results of the TG molecular speciesdetermination. In an aspect, the subject is human.

In an aspect, a method of retarding, preventing, and amelioratingdisease or a medical affliction in a subject comprises analyzing abiological sample taken of a subject for TG molecular analysis byESI/MS/MS with neutral loss scanning and prescribing a therapy for thesubject based on that TG molecular species determination. In an aspect,the subject is human.

In an aspect, a method is provided to identify and quantify multiplelipid species concurrently directly from their lipid extracts ofbiologic samples through intrasource separation and multidimensionalanalysis of mass spectra from precursor ion and neutral loss scans ofnaturally occurring lipid fragments.

In an aspect, multidimensional analysis of samples which are subject toderivatizations to those skilled in the art such as derivatization ofprimary amines (aldehydes and other agents), double bonds(dimethyldisulfide, diborane or other common reagents), sugars,phosphates, primary hydroxyl (trimethylsilysl chloride) and other commonderivatizing agents.

In an aspect, a ratiometric comparison of lipids between two states(e.g., control and disease) is carried out by derivatization with lightand heavy isotopes to determine the relative amounts of each molecularspecies after multidimensional mass spectrometric analysis by thesemethods.

In an aspect, a method for identification of biomarkers of disease,prognostic indicators of disease outcome or markers of treatmentefficacy in disease states which can be identified throughmultidimensional mass spectrometry by a systems biology bioinformaticsapproach which is provided by correlating the mass of lipid products andmetabolites with disease onset, severity or progression.

In an aspect, this methodology of this discovery encompasses a methodfor an automated platform for multidimensional lipid analysis capable ofanalyzing thousands of different lipids through multidimensional massspectrometry through commonly employed principles of automation (e.g.,automated sample injection) and data analysis (e.g., deisotopedeconvolution) as routinely employed by those skilled in the field.

In an aspect, this discovery of a multidimensional mass spectrometryprovides a means for obtaining abundant novel chemical information aboutspatial relationships in lipid molecules (e.g., regiospecificity,chemical linkages and relative abundance of isobaric and other species)not accessible by the one dimensional approach.

In an aspect, a method for determination of at least one of the lipidspecies in a biological sample comprising subjecting the sample to lipidextraction to obtain a lipid extract and subjecting the resulting lipidextract to multidimensional electrospray ionization mass spectrometryusing either precursor ion or neutral loss scanning (or both) of allnaturally occurring aliphatic chains, lipid fragments and precursor ionsleading to observed fragments to generate a multidimensional matrixwhose contour densities provides structural and quantitative informationdirectly without chromatography. A method for determination of lipidcontent and/or lipid molecular species composition and quantity directlyfrom lipid extracts of a biological sample comprising subjecting saidlipid extract to electrospray ionization multidimensional massspectrometry by comparisons to standards and algorithms describedherein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B, FIGS. 2A and 2B, FIGS. 3A and 3B and FIGS. 4-5 depictanalytical results of tests conducted using the inventive ESI/MS/MSprocess herein.

More in detail, FIGS. 1A and 1B depict positive-ion electrosprayionization mass spectrum of an equimolar mixture of triaglycerides. FIG.1A depicts an ESI/MS analysis of an equimolar mixture of twelve speciesof TG. FIG. 1B depicts an ESI/MS of six triglyceride species.

FIGS. 2A and 2B depict a relationship of ESI/MS relative peakintensities with TG molecular species concentration.

FIGS. 3A and 3B depict positive-ion electro spray ionization tandem massspectra of triglyceride molecular species in the product ion mode. FIG.3(A) depicts an ESI tandem mass spectrum of lithiated 16:0/18:1/20:4 TG.FIG. 3B depicts an ESI tandem mass spectrum of lithiated 18:1/20:4/18:1TG.

FIG. 4 depicts a positive-ion electrospray ionization mass spectrum andtandem mass spectra of an equimolar mixture of triglycerides by neutralloss scanning.

FIG. 5 depicts a positive-ion electrospray ionization mass spectrum andneutral loss mass spectra of lipid extracts from rat myocardium.

FIG. 6. Diagram of the ionization of ionic or covalent-linked compoundsby electrospray.

FIG. 7. A strategy for global lipidome analysis by two-dimensionalelectrospray ionization mass spectrometry. This diagram provides anoverview of the 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) mass spectrometricapproach beginning with the extraction and the production of reagention-analyte pairings (center box, A). Subsequent 2D (or multidimensionalESI/MS) mass spectrometric analysis under neutral conditions (boxes Band C) leads to identification of anionic lipids. Addition of LiOH justprior to sample injection (Condition 2) and subsequent 2D (ormultidimensional ESI/MS) analysis (boxes D and E) in the negative-ionmode leads to fingerprinting of individual molecular species ofethanolamine glycerophospholipids, nonesterified fatty acids, andceramides. Next, by changing the source polarity to the positive-ionmode under alkaline conditions (Condition 3), individual molecularspecies of choline glycerophospholipids, sphingomyelins, andtriacylglycerols can be fingerprinted by 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS)mass spectrometry (boxes F and G). Through this approach all majorclasses, subclasses, and individual molecular species can befingerprinted and quantitated through the 2D (or multidimensionalESI/MS) strategy described in the text.

FIG. 8. A pseudo two dimensional (or multidimensional) electrosprayionization mass spectrum of lipid classes resolved by intrasourceclass-selective ionization. Hepatic lipid extracts were prepared asdescribed in “Experimental Protocol” and treated with either no addition(Condition 1, Trace A), addition of 50 nmol LiOH/mg of protein andanalyzed in the negative-ion mode (Condition 2, Trace B) or treated withLiOH and analyzed in the positive-ion mode (Condition 3, Trace C).“I.S.” denotes internal standard; “CL” represents doubly-chargedcardiolipin. All mass spectral traces were displayed after normalizationto the base peak in each individual spectrum.

FIG. 9. Two-dimensional electrospray ionization mass spectra of a mouseliver chloroform extract acquired under condition 1. The 2D (ormultidimensional ESI/MS) mass spectrum A shows anionic or pseudoanioniclipid molecular species by neutral loss and precursor-ion scanning oftheir head groups. A conventional ESI mass spectrum was acquired in thenegative-ion mode under condition 1 (Trace A of FIG. 8) prior toanalysis in the second dimension by precursor-ion scanning of m/z 241.1(inositol phosphate) or m/z 153.0 (glycerophosphate derivative). Eachprecursor-ion (PI) scan was acquired by scanning the first quadrupolefrom m/z 650 to 950 at a rate of 300 amu/s and fixing the thirdquadrupole at the indicated m/z value. Serine glycerophospholipidmolecular species were identified by the neutral loss of serine (87.0amu). Chlorinated choline glycerophospholipid molecular species wereidentified by the neutral loss of 50.0 amu resulting from the loss ofchloromethane. Each neutral loss (NL) scan was acquired bysimultaneously scanning the first and third quadrupoles at a fixed massdifference (neutral loss) at a rate of 300 amu/s while the firstquadrupole was scanned over m/z 650 to 950. The 2D (or multidimensionalESI/MS) mass spectrum B was used to identify the acyl chain compositionof each anionic or pseudoanionic molecular ion. Each PI scan wasacquired by scanning the first quadrupole from m/z 650 to 950 at a rateof 300 amu/s and fixing the third quadrupole at an ion corresponding toa naturally-occurring acyl carboxylate anion. In both NL and PI scans,the second quadrupole acts as a collision cell in which a collision gaspressure of 1 mT was employed. Different collisional energies for eachdifferent NL or PI scan are stated in the “Experimental Protocol”. Allmass spectral traces were displayed after normalization to the mostintense peak in each individual spectrum.

FIG. 10. Two-dimensional electrospray ionization mass spectra of a mouseliver chloroform extract acquired under condition 2. The 2D (ormultidimensional ESI/MS) mass spectrum A was used to identify aliphaticchain composition of ethanolamine glycerophospholipid molecular species(under condition 2). After the addition of LiOH to the sample, the firstdimension spectrum was obtained (top trace) and individual molecularspecies were quantified by comparisons with internal standard. Nextprecursor-ion (PI) scan of representative aliphatic chains was utilizedto confirm the molecular species assignments, identify isobaricmolecular species, and provide additional quantitative information onthe regiospecificity of the aliphatic chains. Each PI scan was acquiredby scanning the first quadrupole from m/z 650 to 950 at a rate of 300amu/s and fixing the third quadrupole at an ion corresponding to anaturally-occurring acyl carboxylate anion. The 2D (or multidimensionalESI/MS) mass spectrum B was used to identify and quantitate ceramidemolecular species. Under condition 2, the first dimension spectra fromm/z 500 to 680 did not reveal peaks corresponding to the molecularmasses of known ceramides. However, neutral loss (NL) scanning of either327.3 amu (specific for 2-hydroxy ceramides), 256.2 amu (highlysensitive for nonhydroxy ceramides), or 240.2 amu (equally sensitive forboth hydroxy and nonhydroxy ceramides) easily identify and quantifymultiple ceramide molecular species. Each NL scan was acquired bysimultaneous scanning of the first and third quadrupoles at a fixed massdifference (neutral loss) at a rate of 300 amu/s while the firstquadrupole was scanned over m/z 500 to 680. The second quadrupole wasused as a collision cell in which a collision gas pressure of 1 mT wasemployed. Different collisional energies for each different NL or PIscan are stated in the “Experimental Protocol”. All mass spectral traceswere displayed after normalization to the base peak in the individualspectrum.

FIG. 11. Two-dimensional electrospray ionization mass spectra of a mouseliver chloroform extract acquired under condition 3. The 2D (ormultidimensional ESI/MS) mass spectrum A shows choline-containingphospholipids analyzed by neutral loss of their head group and aliphaticchains. After the addition of LiOH to the sample, a first dimensionspectrum was obtained (top trace) in the positive-ion mode (Condition 3)and individual molecular species were quantified by comparisons withselected internal standards. Next, neutral loss scanning ofrepresentative aliphatic chains or phosphocholine was utilized toconfirm the molecular species assignments and identify isobaricmolecular species. Each neutral loss (NL) scan was acquired bysimultaneous scanning of the first and third quadrupoles at a fixed massdifference corresponding to the neutral loss of either a phosphocholine(NL 183.1) or a naturally-occurring fatty acid, respectively. The firstquadrupole was scanned in a mass range of PC molecular species (m/z 650to 850) at a rate of 300 amu/s. The 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) massspectrum B shows an analogous approach for triacylglycerol molecularspecies analysis utilizing neutral losses. After the addition of LiOH tothe sample, a first dimension spectrum was obtained (top trace) inpositive-ion mode (Condition 3). Next neutral loss scanning of allnaturally-occurring aliphatic chains was utilized to confirm themolecular species assignments, identify isobaric molecular species, andquantify triacylglycerol individual molecular species by comparisonswith a selected internal standard. Each NL scan was acquired bysimultaneous scanning of the first and third quadrupoles at a fixed massdifferences corresponding to neutral loss of a naturally-occurring freefatty acid. The first quadrupole was scanned through the mass range ofTAG molecular species (m/z 800 to 950) at a rate of 300 amu/s. Thesecond quadrupole was used as a collision cell in which a collision gaspressure of 1 mT was employed and a collisional energy of 35 eV wasapplied. All mass spectra were displayed after normalization to the mostabundant peak in the individual spectrum.

FIG. 12. Schematic diagram of the experimental strategy used for globalanalyses of cellular lipidomes directly from crude extracts ofbiological samples.

FIG. 13. Electrospray ionization mass spectra of a mouse myocardiallipid extract. Panel A shows a negative-ion ESI mass spectrum in theabsence of LiOH in the lipid extract. Panels B and C show negative- andpositive-ion ESI mass spectra of the lipid extract after addition ofLiOH, respectively. Mouse myocardial lipids were extracted by a modifiedBligh and Dyer method. The identities of all indicated molecular specieshave been confirmed by ESI tandem mass spectrometry.

FIG. 14. The two-dimensional fingerprint of ethanolamineglycerophospholipid molecular species in a mouse myocardial lipidextract by negative-ion electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometryin the precursor-ion mode. The lipid extract is identical to the onedescribed in the legend of FIG. 13 obtained in the presence of LiOH. Allprecursor-ion (PI) mass spectra displayed are normalized to the basepeak in the individual mass spectrum.

FIG. 15. Quantitative analyses of free fatty acid and ceramide molecularspecies by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Negative-ion ESImass spectrum (Panel A) of the identical extract after addition of LiOHused in FIG. 13 demonstrates multiple free fatty acid molecular speciesin the extract. Negative-ion ESI neutral loss scanning of 240.2 u (PanelB) of the identical lipid extract after addition of LiOH demonstratesmultiple ceramide molecular species.

FIG. 16. Two-dimensional fingerprint of triacylglycerol molecularspecies of a mouse myocardial lipid extract by positive-ion electrosprayionization tandem mass spectrometry. The lipid extract is identical tothe one described in the legend of FIG. 13 in the presence of LiOH. Allneutral loss (NL) mass spectra displayed are normalized to the base peakin the individual mass spectrum.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is understood more readily by reference to thefollowing detailed description of the invention and the Example includedtherein.

Before the present method and kit are disclosed and described, it is tobe understood that this invention is not limited to specific apparatusor to a specific method. It is also to be understood that theterminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting.

It must be noted that, as used in the specification the singular forms“a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearlydictates otherwise.

In an aspect, the term “patient” includes subject and individual. In anaspect, the patient includes a living human, feline, canine, horses andmurine.

In an aspect, the invention comprises a rapid, simple, and reliablemethod for the quantitative analysis and molecular speciesfingerprinting of triglycerides (TG) directly from chloroform extractsof biological samples.

The term “Multidimensional” spectra, as it is referred to in thispresent application, comprises the organized collection of primary ionmanipulations through multiplexed neutral loss fragmentations and/orprecursor ion scannings to collectively generate a n-dimensional matrix(i.e., multidimensional spectra). Examples of dimensions include headgroups, aliphatic chains, all derivatized moieties which togethercontains a complete set, or nearly complete set of information which canstructurally identify each of the primary ions class, subclass andmolecular species distributions, deconvolute isobaric molecular speciesand provide the enabling technology for construction of an automatedplatform for lipid analysis identifying class assignments, aliphaticchain length compositions and composition of isobaric species. Moreover,through judicious use of bioinformatics weighting algorithms thematrices described herein facilitates molecular species quantitationdirectly from a biologic extract by multidimensional scanning by themethods described herein which segregates each primary ion peak into aresolvable set of densities whose form and content in each dimension canbe used for identification of each primary ion's structure, isobaricspecies composition, and through the combined sets of precursor ionscans and neutral scans (multidimensions) in conjunction withbioinformatics approaches can be used for quantitation throughappropriately referenced internal standards in each dimension byratiometric comparisons.

In an aspect, a method for the determination of triglyceride (TG)content and/or molecular species composition of matter in a mammalianand plant biological sample comprises subjecting said biological sampleto lipid extraction to obtain a lipid extract and subjecting the lipidextract to electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI/MS/MS)providing the TG mass and individual molecular species content as anoutput.

In an aspect, a biological sample comprises a sample taken of at leastone of blood, vessels, atheroma, liver, stool and other body tissues aswell as biopsies of body organs such as a liver biopsy or a musclebiopsy.

As used here, the term “contour analysis” is an analysis based on theshape or periphery of the outline of data, such as external periphery ona 2 dimensional drawing. In an aspect, a contour is presented in someFigures of this application.

In an aspect, the inventive method provides for mass accuracy ofdetecting and quantifying specific components of a biological sample viaa systematic toxicological analysis using a mass spectrometer/massspectrometer herein after referred to as a tandem mass spectrometer.

In an aspect, the term “deconvulution” includes the use of appropriatedeconvuluting algorithms which provide for a systematic procedure forremoving noise, extraneous signals and haze from output of a device suchas from the output of an ESI/MS/MS. In an aspect, an illustrative usefuldeconvolution method is present in the Examples. Use of thedeconvolution algorithms provides a deconvoluted determination.

In an aspect, the inventive methodology comprises a total analysis oftriglyceride individual composition of matter of each triglyceridemolecular species of each triglyceride molecular species in a biologicsample through a high throughput procedure.

Briefly, the inventive methods present a novel multidimensional such asa two-dimensional approach/method which quantitates individual molecularspecies of triglycerides by two dimensional (or multidimensional)electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy with neutral loss scanning.This method provides a facile way to fingerprint each patient's (orbiologic sample's) triglyceride composition of matter (individualmolecular species content) directly from chloroform extracts of biologicsamples. Through selective ionization and subsequent deconvolution of 2D(or multidimensional ESI/MS) intercept density contours of thepseudomolecular parent ions and their neutral loss products, theindividual molecular species of triglycerides can be determined directlyfrom chloroform extracts of biological material. This 2D (ormultidimensional ESI/MS) (two dimensional (or multidimensional))approach comprises a novel enhanced successful functional therapy modelfor the automated determination and global fingerprinting of eachpatient's serum or cellular triglyceride content thus providing thefacile determination of detailed aspects of lipid metabolism underlyingdisease states and their response to diet, exercise or drug therapy.

In an aspect of this inventive method, we employ tandem massspectroscopic separation of specific lipid class-reagent ion pairs isused in conjunction with contour density deconvolution of cross peaksresulting from neutral losses of aliphatic chains to determine theindividual triglyceride molecular species from a biological sample(blood, liver, muscle, feces, urine, tissue biopsy, or rat myocardium.).

As used herein the term “tandem mass spectrometer” includes a functionalanalytical instrument having the technical capability to capably measurethe mass of molecules, identify those molecules and provide suchidentifying information in digitized or hard copy output format.

As used herein the term “fingerprinting” includes a biological sampleanalysis including quantification and qualification of the numbers andtypes of TG molecular species present in a biological (biologic)analyzed sample. In an aspect, the sample is a biological sample form amammal or a plant.

In an aspect, a TG molecular species determination comprises adetermination of at least one TG in a biological sample. In an aspect,the TG molecular species determination comprises the determination of 2,3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 TG molecular species in a biological sample.

As used herein, the term “triglycerides”, denoted symbolically as TG,includes the alpha and beta forms, multiple beta' and beta forms,single, multiple and mixed acyl triglycerides and triglyceride mixturesand includes compounds having three glycerol residues (e.g.cardiolipin). TG includes molecules of glycerol esterified with threefatty acids and corresponding ether or oxidized molecular species. Asused herein, the term “acyl” refers to an organic acid group in whichthe —OH of the carboxyl group is replaced by some other substituent.Useful non-limiting TG include compounds in which three aliphatic chainsare linked to a glycerol independently with ester, ether, and/or vinylether linkage.

As used herein the term “TG molecular species profile” includes therelative and actual distribution of TG molecular species composition ofmatter in a biological sample such as in a mammalian or plant livingcell having a genome.

Abbreviations used herein include DAG, diacylglyceride; DMAP,N,N-dimethyl-4-aminopyridine; Dm:n DAD, di m:n glyceride; ESI,electrospray ionization; FA, fatty acid; MS/MS tandem mass spectrometry;m:n, fatty acyl chain containing m carbons and n double bonds; NL,neutral loss; TG, tracyglycerides; Tm:n TG and tri m:n glyceride.

As used herein, the term “m” represents an integer in the range fromabout 1 to about 22. As used herein the term “n” independently of mrepresents an integer from about 0 to about 6 such as independentlyintegers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

As used herein, the term “biological sample” includes a sample of asuitable size such as a sample of size and composition suitable to a TGanalysis of biological matter. In an aspect the biological sampleincludes serum, blood, urine, mammalian and human bodily fluid and acell, such as a mammalian cell or a recombinant cell, a native ormodified mammalian cell In an aspect, bodily fluid comprises a solid,semi-solid, liquid or semi-liquid mass exiting or excreted from thehuman body.

As used herein the term “mass spectrometer” includes and is synonymouswith the term mass analyzer and may be used interchangeably herein.

In an aspect a biological sample comprises a composition comprising TGwhich is nonantagonistically accommodating to a TG analysis using ESIand tandem mass spectrometry.

As used herein the term “agent” includes atoms, cells and molecules.

As used herein, the term “normalization” include a method where peaks ornumbers of an output are proportionally calculated or plotted to aselected peak or number which is generally arbitrarily assigned a valuesuch as 1 or 100.

As used herein, the term “TAG” throughout the specification and claimsincludes lipids such as triglycerides and is intended to include otherlipid classes subject to analysis by the multidimensional ESI methodsdescribed herein including, but not limited to, phospholipids (e.g.,choline) glycerophospholipides (e.g., plasmenycholine,phosphatidylcholine, plasmanylcholine), sphingomeyelin, ethanolamineglycerophospholipids, mono and dimethyl ethanolamine,glycerophospholipds, serine glycerophospholipids, inositolglycerophospholipids, cardiolipin, phosphatidic acid,phosphatidylglycerol, phasphatidylethanol and oxidized derivativesthereof), fatty acids, fatty amides, eicosanoids, sphingolipids,glycolipids, steroids, ceramides, acylCoA, acylcamitine, acylprotiens,acylpeptides, diglycerides, monoglycerides, anadamide and 2-arachidonylglycerol. Further, the description provided herein with regards to TAGapplies to lipids as aforementioned in all regards including in theclaims.

In an aspect one mass analyzer is connected to another sequentiallycoupled mass analyzer mechanically by an interpositioned chamber (thechamber referred to as a collision cell or chamber) that can break amolecule undergoing analysis and emitted by the first mass analyzer intotwo or more component parts. In an aspect a tandem mass spectrometercomprises first and second sequentially coupled mass analyzers. Thebiological sample is a sample representative of a portion of the subjectsuch as of a human, wherein the result of having a TG analysis presentsa meaningful point of medical research or treatment to one taking orhaving the biological sample taken and analyzed. In another aspect atandem mass spectrometer comprises a first, second and thirdsequentially coupled mass analyzers.

Advantageously, tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) is accurate andspecific in its identification of TG individual molecular species.Tandem mass spectrometry analyzes small amounts of biological sample andprovides a multicomponent analysis simultaneously or nearlysimultaneously of a biological sample in an elapsed analysis time ofabout two to three minutes or so.

In an aspect the weight of a biological sample is at a minimum of tissueabout 1 mg, of cells about 2,000, and of blood about 2 μl or comparablefunctionally adequate amounts, quantities or volumes of other biologicsamples. In an aspect, the amount of biological sample is that amount orvolume which is sufficient to provide for an analysis.

In an aspect, a biological sample is processed in tandem massspectrometer a first mass spectrometer set up in a tandem arrangementwith another mass spectrometer. In that regard the biological sample canbe considered as sorted and weighed in the first mass spectrometer, thenbroken into parts in an inter-mass spectrometer collision cell, and apart or parts of the biological sample are thereafter sorted and weighedin the second mass spectrometer thereby providing a mass spectrometricoutput readily and directly useable from the tandem mass spectrometer.

In an aspect, the output of the tandem mass spectrometer which is TGmolecular species determination, is presented visually and optionallyand can be recorded on a recorder output. Typically the tandem massspectrometer output is shown or displayed visually as an abscissa andordinate graph having ordinate lines spread across an abscissa at aright angle to each other such as on a display or graphic surfacevisible to the eye. This organized display output is a mass spectrum.The point at which the vertical line occurs in the spectrum is the placewhich identifies a compound's mass while the height of that verticalline associated with the analyzed compound represents the amount of thecompound present in the biological sample fed to the mass spectrometer.Typically, the biological sample is fed by hand or robotics to theESI/tandem mass spectrometer.

In analysis, a sample is generally taken of the subject to be analyzed.In an aspect, the sample is part of, or the entire subject to beanalyzed. In an aspect a subject to be sampled comprises a plant. Inanother aspect the subject comprises an animal such as a human, porcine,feline, equistrine and murine, a part or portion thereof.

If desired, samples can be prepared by chromatography or otherpurification methods as well, prior to analysis with electrosprayionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI/MS/MS).

In an aspect, a pre-analysis separation comprises a separation oflipoproteins prior to lipid extraction. In an aspect, the pre-analysisseparation comprises at least one operation or process which is usefulto provide an enhanced biological sample to the electrospray ionizationtandem mass spectrometry (ESI/MS/MS). In an aspect, a pre-analysisseparation is performed on a biological sample and two compositions areprepared accordingly from the biological sample. In an aspect onecomposition comprises high density lipoproteins and another compositioncomprises low density lipoproteins.

Generally, a biological sample taken is representative of the subjectfrom which or of which the sample is taken so that an analysis of thesample is representative of the subject. In an aspect a representativenumber of samples are taken and analyzed of a subject such that arecognized and accepted statistical analysis indicates that the analyticresults are statistically valid. Typically the composition is aqueousbased and contains proteinaceous matter along with triglycerides. Forexample, a human blood sample is sometimes used. Through use of thisinventive method, a plasma sample can be analyzed and appropriateinformation from the plasma can be extracted in a few minutes.Alternatively, information can be taken from the cells in the blood aswell.

In an aspect, serum is utilized as a biological sample. After wholeblood is removed from a human body and the blood clots outside the body,blood cells and some of the proteins become solid leaving a residualliquid which is serum.

In an aspect a control sample is employed in the analysis.

In an aspect, the biological sample or a representative aliquot orportion thereof is subjected to lipid extraction to obtain a lipidextract suitable for ESI/MS/MS. In an aspect lipids are extracted fromthe sample which in an aspect contains a tissue matrix. Non-lipidcontaminants should be removed from the lipid extract.

In one aspect lipid extraction is carried by the known lipid extractionprocess of Folch as well as by the known lipid extraction process ofBligh and Dyer. These useful lipid extraction process are described inChristie, W.W. Preparation of lipid extracts from tissues. In: Advancesin Lipid Methodology—Two, pp. 195-213 (1993) (edited by W. W. Christie,Oily Press, Dundee) EXTRACTION OF LIPIDS FROM SAMPLES William W.Christie The Scottish Crop Research Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee DD25DA, Scotland all of which are incorporated herein in their entirety byreference. The useful Folch extraction process is reported at Folch etal., J Biol Chem 1957, 226, 497 which is incorporated herein in itsentirety by reference.

Generally, lipid extraction is carried out very soon in time on thetissue matrix or immediately after removal (harvest) of tissues (tissuematrix) from humanely sacrificed organisms which have been living(carried out using and following acceptable animal welfare protocols).Alternatively, tissues are stored in such a way that they areconservatively preserved for future use. In an aspect, a lipid extractis provided and used to produce ionized atoms and molecules in theinventive analytical method as feed to the ESI n our novel analysismethod.

In an aspect a chloroform lipid extract is employed as a lipid extractcomposition fed to the ESI. The effluent from theESI is fed to thetandem mass spectrometer (i.e. from the exit of the ESI).

In an aspect, a Freezer Mill 6800 from Fisher Bioblock Scientific isused to finely pulverize soft or hard harvested tissues of a biologicalsample in one or two minutes in liquid nitrogen to render the tissuesufficiently pliable and porous for lipid extraction. Alternatively, thepulverization of the harvested tissue is carried out by subjecting theharvested tissue to hand directed mashing and pulverization using a handdirected stainless-steel mortar and pestle. In a further aspect, anenzymatic digestion is carried out on the harvested tissue which isharvested from a preserved cadaver.

In an aspect, lipids are contained in the lipid extract following thelipid extraction. Generally the extraction is a suitable liquid/liquidor liquid/solid extraction whereby the TG are contained in the extract.In an aspect the extractant has sufficient solvating capability powerand solvating capacity so as to solvate a substantial portion of the TGtherein or substantially all of the TG present in the biological sampleand is contained in the lipid extract.

In an aspect, chloroform is employed as an extractant to produce auseful lipid extract. Other useful extractants include but are notlimited to those extractants which have a solvating power, capabilityand efficiency substantially that of chloroform with regard to the TGmolecular species.

The inventive process creates charged forms of very high molecularweight TG molecules obtained via lipid extraction of a biological sampleas a part of the process of detecting and analyzing biological samplescontaining TG.

In an aspect, in order to detect for and analyze ionized atoms andmolecules such as TG molecular species in a biological sample, the lipidextract of that biological sample is used to produce ionized atoms andmolecules by an ionization method such as electrospray ionization (ESI).As used herein, the term ESI includes both conventional andpneumatically-assisted electrospray.

In use, the inventive procedure operates by producing droplets of asample composition by pneumatic nebulization which compresses and forcesa biological sample composition containing TG such as an analytecontaining TG into a proximal end of a mechanical means housing orholding a fine sized orifice such as a needle or capillary exiting atthe distal end of the orifice at which there is applied a sufficientpotential. Generally the orifice is a very small bore full lengthorifice having an internal average diameter or bore in the range fromabout 0.2 to about 0.5 mm.

In an aspect formation of a suitable spray is a critical operatingparameter in ESI. Suitable solvent removable filters may be used toremove undesired solvents in the biological sample composition prior tobeing fed to the ESI. Generally high concentrations of electrolytes areavoided in samples fed to ESI.

The composition of materials of the means housing or holding the orificeand the orifice are compatible with the compositions of the biologicalsample to be processed through the orifice. Metallic and compositionplastic compositions may be employed. In an aspect the orifice is acapillary or has a conical or capillary shape. In another aspect theorifice is cone shaped with the exterior converging from the proximateend to the distal end.

In an aspect the biologic sample is forced through the orifice byapplication of air pressure to the sample at the proximate end of theorifice or the sample is forced through the orifice or capillary by theapplication of vacuum at the distal end of the orifice. The net resultis that ions are suitably formed at atmospheric pressure and progressthrough the cone shaped orifice. In an aspect the orifice is a firstvacuum stage and the ions undergo free jet expansion. A collector at thedistal end of the orifice collects the ions and guides the ions to atandem mass spectrometer (MS/MS).

As used herein, the terms biologic samples and biological sample aresynonymous with regard to one another and are used interchangeably.

In an aspect a suitable potential is applied via a field to the samplecomposition discharged from or at the distal end of the orifice. Thispotential is sufficiently high so that it capably and effectivelyconverts the composition exiting the distal end of the orifice into afine spay of droplets all at the same or substantially the samepotential. See http://methods.ch.com.ac.uk/meth/ms/theory/esi.html for adescription of ESI which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety. The potential is in the range from about 3 to about 5 kv (kvis kilovolts).

ESI is followed by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) which is ananalytical method to separate and measure charge to mass ratios (M/Z) ofionized molecules and/or atoms. Seehttp://nanogenesys.maxbizcenter.comm/new2183.html. In an aspect a tandemmass spectrometer is utilized which quantifies the amounts of individualionized atoms or molecules and as noted in the above web site providesdetailed information on structure of molecules of the sample undergoinganalysis therein.

In another aspect, ESI useful herein is also described athttp://chm.bris.ac.uk/omsf/interface.html wherein a sample solution isdescribed as being sprayed across a highly protected diffuser of a fewkilovolts from a needle into an orifice in an interface. Thereafteraccording to that web site (The NERC Organic Mass Spectrometry Facility)heat and gas fumes are used to desolvate ions in the sample solutionundergoing ESI.

In an aspect, a tandem mass spectrometer is employed and is fed thebiologic sample affluent from the ESI. The tandem mass spectrometer isan instrument that detects molecules by measuring their weight (mass).Mass spectrometers measure weight electronically and display outputanalytical results in the form of a mass spectrum. In an aspect, massspectrum is the readable and visual output of a mass spectrometer a.e.,a graph, in digital or hard copy form that shows each specific moleculeby weight and how much of each molecule is present in the sample whichwas fed to the tandem mass spectrometer for analysis therein.

In an aspect collision activated dissociation is employed in preparingthe feed composition (i.e. sample from the ESI) to the tandem massspectrometer. A useful reference on tandem mass spectrometry is MassSpectrometry/Mass Spectrometry: Techniques and Applications of TandemMass Spectrometry, Busch, K. L., Glish, G. L., McLuckey, S. A., ISBN:−471-18699-6, Hardcover, January 1989. This reference is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

In an aspect, the ESI/MS/MS is powered by 110 volt electrical supply. Toturn on, a user connects the ESI/MS/MS to an electric power supply andturns on the appropriate electrical switches providing current to theESI/MS/MS.

In an aspect, tandem mass spectrometry provides the needed specificityand selectivity for analysis of TG molecular species including traceanalysis in complex biological samples including complex tissue analysisof such biological samples comprising TG.

Advantageously, the inventive methods herein comprise an unexpected butsuccessful translation of an enhanced analytical procedure comprisingESI/MS/MS for TG molecular species determination of a biological sampleproviding high throughput global fingerprinting of each patient's serumor cellular triglyceride molecular species facilitate or optimizemedicinal therapies for subjects.

In an aspect, deconvolution is carried out by applying any useful andacceptable deconvolution algorithm to the output of the ESI/MS/MSproviding as a result a deconvoluted data output product.

In an aspect, data is normalized by applying a mathematically andstatistically useful and acceptable normalization technique todeconvoluted data output product providing as a result normalized dataoutput.

In an aspect, appropriate computer software and hardware is provided andis programmed to provide appropriate deconvolution and normalization asaforedescribed using appropriate devonvolution and optionallynormalization algorithms.

The following Examples are presented merely to further illustrate andexplain the present invention and should not be taken as limiting theinvention in any regard.

EXAMPLES

The present invention is more particularly described in the followingExamples which are intended as illustrative only since numerousmodifications and variations therein will be apparent to those skilledin the art. All weights and ratios used herein are on a weight basisunless otherwise specified.

Materials and Methods A. MATERIALS OBTAINED AND SOURCES

In this Example, triglycerides (TG) were employed as illustrative TG.

All triglycerides containing three homogeneous acyl chains includingtritetradecanoin (T14:0 TG), tritetradecenoin (T14:1 TG),trihexadecanoin (T16:0 TG), trihexadecenoin (T16:1 TG), triheptadecenoin(T17:1 TG), trioctadecanoin (T18:0 TG), trioctadecenoin (Δ9 cis) (T18:1TG), trioctadecadienoin (Δ9, 12 cis) (T18:2 TG), trieicosanoin (T20:0TG), trieicosenoin (Δ11 cis) (T20:1 TG), trieicosadienenoin (Δ11, 14cis) (T20:2 TG), and trieicosatetraenoin (Δ5, 8, 11, 14 cis) (T20:4 TG)and all 1,3-diacylglycerides (DAG) containing two homogeneous acylchains including dihexadecanoin (D16:0 DAG), dioctadecanoin (D18:0 DAG),diotadecenoin (Δ9 cis) (D18:1 DAG), and dioctadecadienoin (Δ9, 12 cis)(D18:2 DAG) were purchased from Nu Chek Prep, Inc. P.O. Box 295,Elysian, MN 56028. All TG molecular species containing mixed acyl chainsincluding 1-octadec-9′-enoyl-2,3-dihexadecanoyl-rac-glycerol(18:2/16:0/16:0 TG), 1-octadecanoyl-2,3-dihexadecanoyl-rac-glycerol(18:0/16:0/16:0 TG),1-hexadecanoyl-2-octadecanoyl-3-hexadecanoyl-rac-glycerol(16:0/18:0/16:0 TG),1-hexadecanoyl-2-octadex-9′-enoyl-3-octadecanoyl-rac-glycerol(16:0/18:1/18:0 TG),1-hexadecanoyl-2-octadecanoyl-3-octadec-9′-enoyl-3-octadecanoyl-rac-glycerol(16:0/18:1/18:0 TG),1-hexadecanoyl-2-octadecanoyl-3-octadec-9′-enoyl-rac-glycerol(16.0/18:0/18:1 TG), and1,2-octadec-9′-enoyl-3-octadecanoyl-rac-glycerol (18:1/18:1/18:0 TG)were obtained from Matreya, Inc. (2011 Pine Hall Drive, State College,Pa. 16803, also in Pleasant Gap, Pa.).1-Hexadecanoyl-2-octadec-9′-enoyl-sn-glycerol (16:0/18:1 DAG) werepurchased from Avanti Polar Lipids, Inc. (700 Industrial Park Drive,Alabaster, Ala.).

Synthetic heptadecanoyl ceramide (N17:0 ceramide) and phospholipidsincluding 1,2-dimyristoleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (14:1-14:1PtdCho), 1,2-dipentadecanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (15:0-15:0PtdEtn), 1,2-dipentadecanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoglycerol (15:0-15:0PtdGro), 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoserine (14:0-14:0 PtdSer),and 1-heptadecanoyl-2-hydroxyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (17:0lysoPtdCho) were purchased from Avanti Polar Lipids, Inc. (Alabaster,Ala., USA).

The purity of all TG (commercial and synthetic) was determined by ESI/MSprior to use in quantitative analyses. All solvents were HPLC grade (orhigher) and were obtained from Fisher Scientific (Pittsburgh, Pa.).Reagents were of analytical grade and were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich2909 Laclede St. Louis, Mo. 63103.

B. SYNTHESIS AND PURIFICATION OF TG MOLECULAR SPECIES CONTAININGARACHIDONOYL CONSTITUENTS

The reaction procedure was performed in a dry nitrogen atmosphere at 22°C. and care was taken to minimize exposure of the reaction vessel tolight. Ten milligrams of each individual DAG molecular specie[D16:0 DAG,D18:0 DAG, D18:1 DAG, D18:2 DAG, and 16:0/18:1 DAG, stored inchloroform/methanol (2/1, v/v)] was dried under a nitrogen stream. DriedDAGs and recrystallized N,N-dimethyl-4-aminopyridine (DMAP) were furtherindividually dried under high vacuum overnight in the presence ofphosphorus pentoxide. Each individual DAG molecular species wasdissolved in 1 mL of freshly distilled chloroform in a 5-mL conical vialprior to the addition of 3 mg of re-crystallized DMAP in solid. Next, 15mg of arachidonoyl chloride (previously dissolved in 1 mL of distilledchloroform) was added dropwise to the reaction vessel over 10 min withconstant stirring. The reaction mixture was stirred for an additional 30min prior to termination by addition of distilled water and subsequentBligh and Dyer extraction.

Synthetic arachidonoyl-containing TG molecular species were purified byTLC (silica LK6D plates, Whatman) employing a mobile phase comprised ofpetroleum ether/ethyl ether/acetic acid (80/20/1 v/v/v). The band on theTLC plate corresponding to TG molecular species, which was recognized bycomparison to a TG standard spotted on the side of the same plate, wasscraped, the silica powder was loaded onto a pre-rinsed Sep-Pak silicacolumn, and TG molecular species were eluted utilizing 10 mL ofchloroform. Purified arachidonoyl-containing TG molecular species werequantitated by capillary gas chromatography after acid methanolysisutilizing arachidonic acid (20:0) as an internal standard (23).

C. PREPARATION OF THE MIXTURES OF TG MOLECULAR SPECIES

A stock solution of each TG molecular species in chloroform wasquantitatively prepared and stored under nitrogen at −20° C. The TGsolutions were brought to room temperature (or 25° C.) just prior toutilization. Mixtures of TG molecular species were prepared from thesestock solutions using gas-tight syringes. The concentration of each TGmolecular species in the mixtures was ranged from 1 to 1000 nM. Sincesodium ions could complicate the ESI mass spectra of TG and interferewith the quantitative analyses of TG molecular species, all the mixedsolutions were extracted by a modified Bligh and Dyer technique (24)utilizing 50 mM LiOH in an aqueous layer to minimize the presence ofsodium ion in the solutions. The extracts were dried under a nitrogenstream, dissolved in chloroform, filtered with 0.2 μm Gelman acrodisc CRPTFE syringe filters (Gelman Science, Ann Arbor, Mich.), and dried undera nitrogen stream. The final residues of TG mixtures were resuspended in0.2 mL of 1:1 chloroform/methanol for ESI/MS analyses.

D. PREPARATION OF LIPID EXTRACTS FROM RAT TISSUES

Male Sprague-Dawley rats (a universally used, widely accepted andgeneral purpose research model rat of about 350-450 grams body weight)were purchased from Charles River Laboratories, Inc (251 BallardvaleStreet Wilmington, Mass. 01887-1000) and humanely sacrificed accordingto accepted animal welfare protocols.

The Sprague-Dawley rat hearts were excised quickly and immersed inice-cold buffer (250 mM sucrose/25 mM imidazole, pH 8.0, at 4° C.).After removing extraneous tissue and epicardial fat, each heart tissuewas blotted to remove excess buffer and immediately freeze-clamped atthe temperature of liquid nitrogen. Myocardial wafers were pulverizedinto a fine powder with a stainless-steel mortar and pestle. A proteinassay was performed on homogenized myocardial wafers and data werenormalized to the protein content of the rat heart tissues. A ˜30 mgmyocardial wafer was weighed from each harvested rat heart and lipidswere extracted by a modified Bligh and Dyer technique (24) utilizing 50mM LiOH in an aqueous layer in the presence of T17:1 TG (150 pmol/mg ofprotein; used as an internal standard for TG quantification). Thismolecular species of endogenous TG represents <1% of lipid mass. ESImass spectra from control experiments in which the internal standard wasnot exogenously added were also taken to ensure the absence of anydemonstrable endogenous molecular ions in that region. The lipidextracts were dried under a nitrogen stream, dissolved in chloroform,desalted with Sep-Pak columns, filtered with 0.2 μm Gelman acrodisc CRPTFE syringe filters (Gelman Science), reextracted, and dried under anitrogen stream. The final lipid residue was resuspended in 0.2 mL of1:1 chloroform/methanl for ESI/MS analyses.

Male mice (4 month of age) were purchased from The Jackson Laboratory(Bar Harbor, Me., USA). Mice were sacrificed by inhalation of carbondioxide prior to tissue collection. Each mouse liver was collected andwashed in 20 ml of PBS twice. Then half of the liver was cut into smallpieces followed by homogenization in 2 ml of ice-cold LiCl solution (50mM) by using a Potter-Elvehjem tissue grinder. Protein concentration ofhomogenates were then determined using a bicinchoninic acid proteinassay kit (Pierce, Rockford, Ill., USA) using bovine serum albumin as astandard. A small volume of homogenate containing 2 to 5 mg of proteinwas transferred to a glass test tube. Methanol and chloroform (2 ml ofeach) as well as additional volume of LiCl solution to make a solutionof 1.8 ml with a final LiCl solution of 50 mM were added to the testtube containing the liver homogenate for lipid extraction by the Blighand Dyer procedure (13).

At this point, internal standards including 14:0-14:0 PtdSer (1.0nmol/mg protein), 15:0-15:0 PtdGro (4.2 nmol/mg protein), 15:0-15:0PtdEtn (18.75 nmol/mg protein), 14:1-14:1 PtdCho (15 nmol/mg protein),17:0 lysoPtdCho (1 nmol/mg protein), N17:0 ceramide (40 pmol/mgprotein), T17:1 TAG (10 nmol/mg protein), and 20:0 FA (2 nmol/mgprotein) were added to each homogenate based on protein concentration.Thus, the quantified lipid content can be normalized to the proteincontent. These internal standards were selected because they onlyrepresent <<1% of endogenous cellular lipid mass as demonstrated byESI/MS lipid analysis without addition of these internal standards. Theselected set of internal standards represent the minimal number ofinternal standards necessary for lipid quantitation. If much higheraccuracy for quantitation is desired, one internal standard for eachclass of lipids is recommended, or if the focus of the study is on asingle lipid class even multiple internal standards for each class oflipids can be employed [14-16].

Next, the extraction mixture was centrifuged at 2,500 rpm for 10 min.The chloroform layer was carefully removed and saved. Into the MeOH andaqueous layer of each test tube, an additional 2 ml of chloroform wasadded and chloroform layer was separated as above. The chloroformextracts from each identical sample were combined and dried under anitrogen stream. Each individual residue was then resuspended in 4 ml ofchloroform/methanol (1:1), re-extracted against 1.8 ml of 20 mM LiClaqueous solution, and the extract was dried as described above. Eachindividual residue was resuspended in ˜1 ml of chloroform and filteredwith a 0.2-μm PFTE syringe filter into a 5-ml glass centrifuge tube(this step was repeated twice). The chloroform solution was subsequentlydried under a nitrogen stream and each individual residue wasresuspended with a volume of 500 μl/mg of protein in 1:1chloroform/methanol. The lipid extracts were finally flushed withnitrogen, capped, and stored at −20° C. for ESI/MS analyses (typicallywithin one week). Each lipid solution has to be further dilutedapproximately 50 fold just prior to infusion and lipid analysis innegative-ion mode (Experimental condition 1 in FIG. 1). This dilutedlipid solution contains approximately 4 pmol/μl of total lipids. To thisdiluted lipid solution, LiOH (50 nmol/mg of protein) was added justprior to performing further lipid analyses in both negative- andpositive-ion modes (Experimental conditions 2 and 3, respectively, inFIG. 6).

E. ELECTROSPRAY IONIZATION MASS SPECTROMETRY OF TRIGLYCERIDES (TG)

ESI mass spectral analyses of TG molecular species were performedsimilarly to the analyses of phospholipids utilizing a Finnigan TSQ-7000spectrometer equipped with an electrospray ion source as describedpreviously (25, 26). (Thermo Finnigan, Global Headquarters, 355 FiverOaks Parkway, San Jose, Calif. 95134-1991 USA).

Typically, a 5-min period of signal averaging in the profile mode wasemployed for each (mass spectrum)s of a TG sample or lipid extract. Allsamples were appropriately diluted in 1:1 chloroform/methanol prior todirect infusion into the ESI chamber using a syringe pump at a flow rateof 1 μL/min. TG molecular species were directly ionized in thepositive-ion mode by ESI. Tandem mass spectrometry of TG afterelectrospray ionization of TG after electrospray ionization wasperformed by collisional activation with argon gas. The resultantproduct ions were analyzed after passage into the third quadrupole. Thedegree of collisional activation as adjusted through variation of the cdoffset voltage and collision gas pressure. During this study, acollision energy of 35 eV and collision gas pressure of 2.5 mTorr wereused. Two types of tandem mass spectrometric analyses were employed(i.e., product-ion scanning and neutral loss scanning). Product-iontandem mass spectrometry was conducted similarly as described previously(27). Tandem mass spectrometry utilizing neutral losses were performedthrough the simultaneous scanning of both the first and thirdquadrupoles at a fixed different mass (i.e., neutral loss) correspondingto the mass of the fatty acids of interest.

TG molecular species were directly quantitated by comparisons of ionpeak intensities with that of internal standard (i.e., T17:1 TG) aftercorrection for C isotope effects in the positive-ion mode. Two types of¹³C isotope effects were considered. First, correction for the effectfrom the carbon number difference between a given TG molecular speciesand the internal standard was calculated as follows:

$\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{Z_{1} = \frac{\left( {1 + {0.011\; n} + {0.011^{2}{{n\left( {n - 1} \right)}/2}}} \right)}{\left( {1 + {0.011s} + {0.011^{2}{{s\left( {s - 1} \right)}/2}}} \right)}} \\{{= {0.5648 + {6.213 \times 10^{- 3}n} + {3.417 \times 10^{- 5}n^{2}}}},}\end{matrix} & \lbrack 1\rbrack\end{matrix}$

where Z₁ is a type I¹³C isotope correction factor, n is the total carbonnumber in the molecular species of interest, and s is the total carbonnumber of internal standard, and s is 54 for T17:1 TG. n is in the rangefrom about 0 to about 6.

The degree of type I isotope correction is less than 10% in most cases.The second type of ¹³C isotope effect comes from the overlapping of theM+2 isotope peak with the molecular ion peak of a species, which has a2-Da higher mass. The general correction factor for this type of ¹³Cisotope effect is as follows:

$\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{Z_{2} = {1 - {\left( {I_{m - 2}/I_{m}} \right)0.011^{2}{{m\left( {m - 1} \right)}/2}}}} \\{{= {1 - {6.05 \times 10^{- 5}{m^{2}\left( {I_{M - 2}/I_{M}} \right)}}}},}\end{matrix} & \lbrack 2\rbrack\end{matrix}$

where Z₂ is a type II ¹³C isotope correction factor, m is the totalcarbon number in the molecular species with lower molecular mass, and mranges from about 30 to about 70 and I_(M-1) and I_(M) are peakintensities of ions at molecular weight (M−2) and M, respectively.

As used herein, the alphabetical symbols m, n, s represent integerswhich vary independently of each other and may be the same or different.As used herein, “C” means carbon 13 isotope. Deisotope approach of allipids are included.

Protein concentration was determined with a bicinchoninic acid proteinassay kit (Pierce Biotechnology, Inc., P.O. Box 117, Rockford, Ill.,61105) using bovine serum albumin as a standard. Quantitative data frombiological samples were normalized to the protein content of the tissuesand all data are presented as means±SEM of a minimum of threeindependent preparations.

A triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer (ThermoFinnigan TSQ Quantum, SanJose, Calif., USA) operating under Xcalibur software was utilized in thestudy. The first and third quadrupoles served as independent massanalyzers while the second quadrupole served as a collision cell fortandem mass spectrometry. The spray voltage was maintained at +3.6 kV inpositive-ion mode and −3.6 kV in the negative-ion mode. An offsetvoltage on the ion transfer capillary was set to 17 V and −17 V in thepositive- and negative-ion modes, respectively. The heater temperaturealong the ion transfer capillary was maintained at 350° C. The sheathgas (nitrogen) pressure was 2 psi. The diluted lipid extract solutionwas directly infused into the ESI source at a flow rate of 2 μl/min witha syringe pump using an orthogonal injection. Typically, a 1-min periodof signal averaging in the profile mode was employed for each MSspectrum. Under these condition, we have demonstrated that an ion peakof any anionic phospholipid molecular species with S/N=10 could bereadily obtained from 1 fmol of sample consumed (Spectra not shown).

For tandem mass spectrometry, a collision gas pressure was set at 1.0mTorr but the collision energy was varied with the classes of lipids asfollows: neutral loss scanning for ceramides in negative-ion mode, 34eV; neutral loss scanning of fatty acids in both PtdCho and TAG speciesas well as precursor ion scanning of 183.1 amu (phosphocholine) forPtdCho in positive-ion mode, 35 eV; precursor-ion scanning at m/z foracyl carboxylate anions in PtdEtn, chlorinated PtdCho, and anionicphospholipids in negative-ion mode, 28 eV; neutral loss of 87.0 amu(serine) for PtdSer in negative-ion mode, 28 eV; neutral loss of 50.0amu (CH₃Cl) for chlorinated PtdCho in negative-ion mode, 23.5 eV;precursor-ion scanning of m/z 241.1 (inositol phosphate) for PtdIns innegative-ion mode, 38 eV, and precursor-ion scanning of m/z 153.0(phosphate derivative) for anionic phospholipids in negative-ion mode,35 eV. Typically, a 2-min period of signal averaging in the profile modewas employed for each tandem MS spectrum.

F. RESULTS Detailed Description of the Drawings G. FIGS. 1A AND 1B,FIGS. 2A AND 2B, FIGS. 3A AND 3B, FIGS. 4-5, FIGS. 6-7, FIGS. 8A AND 8B,FIGS. 9A AND 9B, FIGS. 10A AND 10B, FIGS. 11-12, FIGS. 13A AND 13B AND13C, FIG. 14, FIGS. 15A AND 15B AND FIG. 16 DEPICT ANALYTICAL RESULTS OFTESTS RUN USING THE INVENTIVE ESI/MS/MS PROCESS HEREIN

FIG. 1 depicts positive-ion electrospary ionization mass spectrum of anequimolar mixture of triglycerides. Equimolar mixtures of 12triglyceride molecular species (i.e., T14:1, T14:0, T16:1, T16:0, T17:1,T18:2, T18:1, T20:4, T20:2, T20:1, and T20:0, 10 nM each in a totalvolume of 200 μL) (A) or 6 triglyceride molecular species (i.e.,16:0/20:4/16:0, 16:0/18:1/20:4, 18:2/20:4/18:2 18:1/20:4/18:1,18:0/20:4/18:0, and T17:1 TG, 10 nM each in a total volume of 200 μL)(B) were prepared from stock solutions and extracted by a modifiedBligh-Dyer method in the presence of 50 nM LiOH in the acqueous phase asdescribed herein under Materials and Methods.

The solutions of TG mixtures in chloroform/methanol (1:1, by volume)were directly infused into the ESI ion source using a Harvard syringepump at a flow rate of 1 μL/min. Mass spectrometry of triglycerides wasperformed as previously described under Materials and Methods. Molecularions in the mass spectra have been labeled with masses corresponding totheir lithiated TG molecular species adducts. The masses of all ionpeaks are rounded to the nearest integer.

FIG. 2 depicts relationship of ESI/MS/relative peak intensities with TGmolecular species concentration. In A, mixtures of TG molecular speciescontaining identical molar ratios, but different concentrations, ofindividual TG components were prepared as described under Materials andMethods. Positive-ion ESI mass spectra were acquired as described in thelegend to FIG. 1. The lithiated molecular ion peaks of each individualTG molecular species were quantified relative to the internal standard(T17:1 TG) after corrections were made for ¹³C isotope effects.Experiments were performed over a three-order magnitude of concentrationrange (1 to 1000 nM) in mixtures containing T14:1 TG (□), T16:1 TG (⋄),T18:1 TG (◯), or T20:1 TG (Δ). In B, samples were prepared containingdifferent molar ratio relative to the internal standard (T17:1) and theintensity of the molecular ion was quantified by ESI/MS aftercorrections for ¹³C isotope effects. The ratios of molecular ionintensities of 14:1 TG (□), T16:1 TG (⋄), T 18:1 TG (∘), or T20:1 TG (Δ)with the molar ratio in the prepared solutions had coefficients(δ²)>0.99. The slope for each individual TG molecular species wasdefined as the correction factor for the sensitivity effect relative toT17:1 TG. Data are presented as a means±SEM from at least four separatesample presentations.

FIG. 3 depicts positive-ion electrospray ionization tandem mass spectraof triglyceride molecular species in the production mode. (A) ESI tandemmass spectrum of lithiated 16:0/18:1/20:4 TG. (B) ESI tandem massspectrum of lithiated 18:1/20:4/18:1 TG. Samples of the TG mixture wereprepared and ESI/MS was performed as described in the legend to FIG. 1.After selection of the lithiated pseudo-molecular ion of TG molecularspecies in the first quadrupole, collision activation was performed inthe second quadrupole and the resultant product ions were analyzed inthe third quadrupole as described under Materials and Methods.

FIG. 4 depicts Positive-ion electrospray ionization mass spectrum andtandem mass spectra of an equimolar mixture of triglycerides by neutralloss scanning. An equimolar mixture of T16:0, 18:1/16:0/16:0, T17:1,T18:1, and 18:1/18:1; 18:0 TG (2 pmol each in a total volume of 200 μL)was prepared from stock solutions and extracted by a modified method ofBligh-Dyer in the presence of 50 mM LiOH in the aqueous phase asdescribed under Materials and Methods. The solution of the TG mixture(in chloroform/methanol, 1:1 volume) was directly infused into the ESIion source using a Harvard syringe pump at a flow rate of 1 μL/min.Positive-ion ESI mass spectrum (Row A) of the mixture was acquired asdescribed under Materials and Methods. Positive-ion ESI tandem massspectra with neutral loss of 16:0 (Row B), 17:1 (Row C), 18:1 (Row D),and 18:0 (Row E) were acquired through simultaneous scanning of both thefirst and third quadrupoles at fixed different masses (neutral loss) asdescribed under Materials and Methods. All NL mass spectra weredisplayed after normalization to the base peak in the individualspectrum. The total ion counts of each individual ion in all neutralloss mass spectra were determined from four individually preparedsolutions and the averaged results are tabulated in Table 2.

FIG. 5 depicts positive-ion electrospray ionization mass spectrum andneutral loss mass spectra of lipid extracts from rat myocardium. Lipidsamples from rat myocrdium (˜20 mg of wet tissue) were extracted by amodified method of Bligh-Dyer in the presence of 50 mM LiOH in theaqueous phase as described under Materials and Methods. Aliquots of theextracts in 1:1 chloroform/methanol were infused directly into the ESIsource using a Harvard syringe pump at a flow rate of 1 μL/min.Positive-ion ESI mass spectrum (Row A) of lipid extracts was acquired asdescribed under Materials and Methods. Positive-ion ESI tandem massspectra of TG in lipid extracts with neutral loss of palmitoleic acid(16:1) (Row B), palmitic acid (16:0) (Row C), oleic acid (18:1) (Row D),linoleic acid (18:2) (Row E), and arachidonic acid (20:4) (Row F) wereacquired through simultaneous scanning both first and third quadrupolesat fixed different mass values (neutral loss) as described underMaterials and Methods. All NL mass spectra were displayed afternormalization to the base peak in the individual spectrum. The total ioncounts of each individual ion in mass spectra with neutral loss of eachfatty acid were determined from four individually prepared mixturesolutions and the averaged results are tabulated in Table 3. Theinternal standard peak (i.e. lithiated T17:1, TG) for TG quantificationis indicated by the asterisk in Row A.

The data shown in the Figures is data of a tandem mass spectrumutilizing a neutral loss scanning. Data points on the ordinate(s)represent the number of ions (intensity) detected for a specific mass tocharge ratio (mass to charge ratio is represented on the abscissa). Theion intensity at each mass to charge ratio is expressed relative tohighest ion intensity at a specific mass to charge ratio. These ratiosare expressed as a percent.

Multiple individual peaks are shown on the figures. Individual peaks areshown as one peak among many in the mass spectrum output. An individualpeak represents a numerical count of the total ions detected at say m/z849.7. In an aspect, we read from the tandem mass spectrometer outputthat this peak is the largest peak in the mass spectrum (100% relativeion intensity). We assume in our applications that the charge is one, sothat the mass of this lithiated molecule is 849.7 DA.

H. QUANTITATION OF TG MOLECULAR SPECIES USING ESI/MS/MS

Our work has demonstrated that positive-ion ESI mass spectra of TG inthe presence of lithium ion displayed predominant (>98%) lithiated TGmolecular ions (8). However, the sensitivity of each TG molecularspecies in positive-ion ESI/MS was modestly (approximately 2-fold in theworst cases) dependent on the chain length and unsaturation index. Forexample, the positive-ion ESI mass spectrum of an equimolar mixture ofT14:1, T14:0, T16:1, T16:0, T17:1, T18:2, T18:1, T18:0, T20:4, T20:2,T20:1, and T20:0 TG (10 nM for each molecular species) in the presenceof LiOH displayed 12 molecular ion peaks with peak intensities whichdiffered by at most 2-fold from internal standard, T17:1 TG (FIG. 1A).The sensitivity of each molecular species correlated with itsunsaturation index and inversely correlated with its chain length. Theintensity of each molecular species during positive-ion ESI mass spectraof TG was linear over a 1000-fold dynamic range examined (FIG. 2A).

Detailed analyses of the concentration-response profile of TG molecularspecies after correction for ¹³C isotope effects demonstrated a strictlylinear response which possessed different slopes for each molecularspecies relative to the internal standard (FIG. 2B). Accordingly,comparisons between different TG molecular species can be directlyobserved, but absolute quantitation requires consideration of factorswhich lead to the differential sensitivities between molecular species.The slope of the least-square regressive linear fitting for eachindividual TG molecular species was defined as the correction factor forthe sensitivity effect relative to T17:1 TG and tabulated for eachmolecular species examined (Table 1 immediately below).

TABLE 1 Sensitivity Correction Factors of Common TG Molecular Species toT17:1TG Determined Calculated TG Molecular Species Correction FactorCorrection Factor* T14:0 (42:0) 0.92 ± 0.10 0.91 T14:1 (42:3) 1.22 ±0.05 1.34 T16:0 (48:0) 0.69 ± 0.06 0.69 T16:1 (48:3) 1.00 ± 0.08 1.0216:0/16:0/18:1 (50:1) 0.71 ± 0.05 0.73 16:0/18:0/16:0 (50:0) 0.62 ± 0.090.63 18:0/16:0/16:0 (50:0) 0.62 ± 0.07 0.63 T17:1 (51:3) 1 0.9116:0/18:0/18:1 (52:1) 0.65 ± 0.05 0.67 16:0/18:1/18:0 (52:1) 0.65 ± 0.080.67 16:0/20:4/16:0 (52:4) 0.90 ± 0.09 0.94 T18:0 (54:0) 0.54 ± 0.090.53 18:0/18:1/18:1 (54:2) 0.66 ± 0.07 0.7 T18:1 (54:3) 0.81 ± 0.06 0.7816:0/20:4/18:1 (54:5) 0.89 ± 0.08 0.94 T18:2 (54:6) 0.93 ± 0.03 1.0318:0/20:4/18:0 (56:4) 0.72 ± 0.09 0.79 18:1/20:4/18:1 (56:6) 0.85 ± 0.090.93 18:2/20:4/18:2 (56:8) 0.96 ± 0.08 1.08** T20:0 (60:0) 0.44 ± 0.060.45 T20:1 (60:3) 0.66 ± 0.06 0.61 T20:2 (60:6) 0.87 ± 0.08 0.77 T20:4(60:12) 0.74 ± 0.08 1.09** *Calculated from y = 4.4979 + 0.3441p −0.1269q − 0.004845p*q + 0.00099qq Where p - total double bond numbers inTG; q - total carbon numbers in acyl chains of TG **The differencesbetween determine and calculated correction factors are over theexperimental error. See text for detailed discussion.

The results demonstrated that the longer the acyl chain lengths and thelower the unsaturation index, the lower the sensitivity of TG molecularspecies in positive-ion ESI/S (FIGS. 2A and 2B and Table 1) with onlyone recognized exception (i.e., T20:4 TG). The results demonstrated thatthere were no differences of sensitivity correction factors between TGregioisomers (Table 1). A least-square regressive nonlinear curvefitting was performed to obtain correction factors for sensitivity of TGmolecular species (except for T20:4 TG) as follows:

y=4.4979+0.3441p−0.1269q−4.845

x10⁻³p*q+9.9×10⁻⁴q²,  [3]

where y is a correction factor for sensitivity effect relative to T17:1,q is the total carbon number in the three acyl chains of a TG species,and p is the double bond number in a TG species.

To further assess the impact of arachidonoyl-containing triglycerides onthe unanticipated lower sensitivity of T20:4 TG during ESI/MS analysis,we synthesized multiple naturally occurred arachidonyl-containing TGmolecular species (i.e., 16:0/20:4/16:0, 16:0/18:1/20:4, 18:0/20:4/18:1,and 18:2/20:4/18:2 TG) and examined their ESI/MS spectroscopicproperties (FIG. 1B) The experimentally determined correction factorsfor each of these species were generally well within the experimentalerror of the sensitivity factors calculated utilizing Eq. [3] (Table 1).It should be noted that the experimentally determined sensitivity factorof 18:2/20:4/18:2 TG (which contains 8 double bonds) was ˜13% less thanthat calculated from Eq. [3]. Collectively, these results demonstratethat Eq. [3] allows accurate quantification for most naturally occurringtriglycerides. However, triglycerides containing 8 to 12 double bondsare within 10-15% algorithm-predicted values and those with >12 doublebonds should be accounted for by independent internal standardscontaining a similar number of double bonds. It should be recognizedthat the overwhelming amount of TG molecular species in biologicalsamples contain fewer than 6 double bonds in the three acyl chains(collectively) allowing accurate quantitation using this algorithm.Moreover, direct comparisons between highly unsaturated molecularspecies (e.g., T20:4 TG) will still be valid, although absolutequantitative values derived from this algorithm should be interpretedwith caution in the case of TG containing ≧12 double bonds.

I. FINGERPRINTING OF TG MOLECULAR SPECIES USING POSITIVE-ION ESI TANDEMMASS SPECTROMETRY WITH NEUTRAL LOSS SCANNING

Our aforedescribed ESI/MS/MS of TG molecular species demonstrates that aset of abundant product ions could be generated by collisionalactivation which corresponded to the neutral loss of each fatty acidmolecular species in the selected TG peak (FIGS. 3A and 3B).Accordingly, we examined the abundance of product ions generated from TGmolecular species and determined that the total number of ion countscorresponding to each fatty acid was proportional to the number of acylchains in the parent TG molecular species (within 10% of theexperimental error). For example, product ions at m/z 632, 606, and 584in FIG. 3A correspond to the neutral loss of palmitic acid, oleic acid,and arachidonic acid from the lithiated 16:0/18:1/20:4 TG quasimolecularion (m/z 888) which are present in a ratio of 1:1:1 (FIG. 3A).Similarly, product ions m/z 632 and 610 (FIG. 3B) correspond to theneutral loss of oleic acid and arachidonic acid from the lithiated18:1/20:4/18:1 TG molecular ion (m/z 914) which are present in a ratioof 2:1 reflecting their abundance in the parent TG. Therefore, weexplored the possibility that positive-ion ESI tandem mass spectrometryin the neutral loss mode can provide an informative fingerprint of theTG molecular species directly from biological samples without the needfor prior chromatographic separation.

First, positive-ion ESI tandem mass spectra of an equimolar mixture ofT:16:0, 18:1/16:0/16:0, T17:1, T18:1, and 18:1/18:1/18:0 TG (10 nM foreach component) were acquired by scanning for the neutral loss of 256,268, 282, and 284 [corresponding to the neutral loss of palmitic acid,heptadec-10-enoic acid (17:1), oleic acid, and stearic acid,respectively] (FIG. 4). Arrangement of sequential neutral loss spectraof individual fatty acids in conjunction with their parent ion peaksresults in the generation of a 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) spectrumwhich provides a detailed fingerprint of each of the acyl constituentscontained in all the isobaric parent ions at a given mass value. Thepeak intensity ratio of acyl chains during neutral loss scanningreflected the number of each type of acyl chain present in the mixtureof TG molecular species. For example, the intensity ratio of peaks atm/z 814 and 840 was present in a ratio of 3:2 during neutral lossscanning of palmitic acid (256) (Row B in FIG. 4) consistent with thepresence of three palmitates in the molecular species at m/z 814 (T16:0TG) and two palmitates in the molecular species at m/z 840(18:0/16:0/16:0 TG). Tabulation of individual ion abundance (absoluteion counts) from the neutral loss scanning of each individual fatty acidwith the molecular mass of the TG parent ion can be used to generate atwo-dimensional matrix from which the fingerprinting of TG molecularspecies is possible (Table 2 below).

TABLE 2 Quantitative Analysis of an Equimolar Mixture of TG UsingPositive-Ion ESI/MS/MS in Neutral Loss Mode 16:0 (NL 17:1 (NL Total Ion[M + Li]+ TG Species 256) 268) 18:1 (NL 282) 18:0 (NL 284) Counts* TotalTG (nM) 814 T16:0 165.2 ± 9.9 239.42 ± 17.6   9.3 ± 0.7 84016:0/16:0/18:1 123.4 ± 4.9 55.5 ± 2.4 245.1 ± 12.3  9.5 ± 0.5 850 T17:1258.4 ± 12.5 258.4 ± 12.5 10.0 ± 0.5 892 T18:1 207.7 ± 10.1 266.3 ± 10.810.3 ± 0.4 894 18:1/18:1/18:0 0 118.0 ± 7.7  52.1 ± 2.3 243.0 ± 11.5 9.4 ± 0.4 Total Ion Counts*  408.5 ± 19.9 258.4 ± 12.5 510.9 ± 28.574.4 ± 3.6 48.5 ± 2.5 Total FA (nM)   47.4 ± 2.3 (5)   30.0 ± 1.5 (3)  59.3 ± 3.3 (6)   8.6 ± 0.4 (1) 145.3 ± 6.2 

With a known concentration of internal standard, this 2D (ormultidimensional ESI/MS) mass spectroscopic procedure can directlyquantitate the molecular species distribution of TG from chloroformextracts of biological samples as described below.

From the two-dimensional matrix composed of absolute ion countsgenerated from the neutral loss scanning of individual fatty acids, therelative contribution of individual isobaric molecular species of TG toeach parent ion peak can be quantitated. After the generation of theparent ion, all fatty acids examined (i.e., 16:0, 17:1, 18:0, 18:1,18:2, and 20:4) derived from the parent ion were released with equalefficiency after collisional activation under the conditions employed(FIG. 3). Accordingly, individual molecular species contributions can becalculated from the relative ion counts present at each molecular massby identifying a molecular species which has a single fatty acidrepresented. This unitary response factor can then be utilized todeconvolute molecular species information from the 2D (ormultidimensional ESI/MS) matrix of ion counts and TG molecular speciesmass. This approach does not determine the regiospecificity of eachfatty acid in the glycerol backbone but does allow the quantification ofthe three fatty acids which reside on the glycerol of each TG molecularspecies. For example, the molecular species at m/z 840 appeared inneutral loss scanning mass spectra of palmitic acid (16:0, MW 256) andoleic acid (18:1, MW 282) with an approximate ratio of 2:1 (Rows B and Din FIG. 4; Table 2), suggesting that this molecular species contains twopalmitates and one oleate. The total ion counts of this molecularspecies (after correction for ¹³C isotope effects and sensitivityeffects) were almost identical with the internal standard (i.e., T17:1TG; Table 2). The obtained concentration of each individual molecularspecies was identical within experimental errors (right column in Table2; 10 nM).

J. QUANTITATION OF TG MOLECULAR SPECIES IN LIPID EXTRACTS OF RATMYOCARDIUM BY POSITIVE-ION ESI TANDEM MASS SPECTROMETRY IN THE NEUTRALLOSS MODE

As previously reported, positive-ion ESI mass spectra of lipid extractsfrom rat myocardium demonstrated predominant lithiatedcholine-containing phospholipids (e.g., m/z 765, 767, 789, 793, and 817)as well as lithiated TG molecular species (e.g., m/z 814 and 840). Sincemost biological tissues have substantially more choline-containingphospholipids than TG, this overlap effectively precludes the directquantitation of TG molecular species. However, application ofpositive-ion ESI tandem mass spectrometry in the neutral loss modefacilitates their quantitative analysis by “spectroscopic” resolutionsince the neutral loss of fatty acids is absent in cholineglycerophospholipids due to the >100-fold more rapid loss of the polarhead group than the fatty acid after collisional activation (27).

We recognized that by scanning all potential naturally occurring fattyacids of lipid extracts from rat myocardium, a two-dimensional matrix(one dimension corresponding to the fatty acids occurring in the TGmolecular species of lipid mixtures and a second corresponding to parentmolecular ions) could be constructed which would reveal a detailedfingerprint of individual TG molecular species directly from lipidextracts (FIG. 5). We and others have previously demonstrated that thepredominant naturally occurring fatty acids in TG molecular species are16:0, 16:1, 18:1, 18:2, and 20:4 (FIG. 5). In chloroform extracts of ratmyocardium, there were more than 10 major crosspeaks present at m/z 812,814, 836, 838, 840, 862, 864, 866, 888, 890, 892, 912, and 914 as wellas an intense peak corresponding to internal standard (m/z 850) whichwas omitted for clarity in FIG. 5. Positive-ion ESI tandem mass spectrawith NL of palmitoleic acid (16:1) and palmitic acid demonstratedseveral abundant buried TG molecular ion peaks (e.g., m/z 810 and 812 inRow B and m/z 812, 814, and 840 in Row C, FIG. 5).

TABLE 3 Tandem ESI Mass Spectrometric Analyses of TG Molecular Speciesin Lipid Extracts of Rat Myocardium (pmol/mg of protein) Major MolecularTotal Ion TG m/z Species NL16:1 NL16:0 NL17:1 NL18:2 NL18:1 NL18:0 NL20:4 Counts* Content 810 16:0/16:1/ 10.5 ± 1.8  4.9 ± 6.6 16.9 ± 2.6 15± 2 16:1(48:2) 812 16:0/16:0/ 17.4 ± 1.5 35.5 ± 3.2 66.2 ± 4.1 59 ± 516:1(48:1) 814 T16:0 (48:0) 43.4 ± 2.2 62.9 ± 2.6 56 ± 4 836 16:1/16:1/39.4 ± 2.9 22.2 ± 1.2 66.2 ± 4.1 59 ± 4 18:1(50:3) 838 16:0/16:1/ 33.6 ±2.2 66.7 ± 4.7  9.8 ± 0.8 33.3 ± 2.5 172.7 ± 12.1 155 ± 13 18:1& (50:2)840 16:0/16:0/ 47.5 ± 1.1 25.2 ± 1.0 102.7 ± 2.3  92 ± 5 18:1(50:1) 850T17:1 (53:3) 167.6 ± 8.7 167.6 ± 8.7  [150] 862 16:1/18:1/ 32.5 ± 2.633.3 ± 2.2 95.0 ± 7.2 33.9 ± 2.0  3.3 ± 0.2 210.0 ± 10.2 189 ± 1218:2&(52:4) 864 16:0/18:1/ 13.5 ± 1.5 46.4 ± 3.8 55.2 ± 5.6 76.0 ± 7.2221.3 ± 17.6 198 ± 16 18:2&(52:3) 866 16:0/18:1/ 26.9 ± 2.2 53.8 ± 3.1106.1 ± 5.1  95 ± 7 18:1(52:2) 888 18:1/18:2/  9.7 ± 0.4 118.6 ± 6.7 52.3 ± 3.1 10.4 ± 0.6 203.2 ± 18.7 182 ± 17 18:2&(54:5) 890 18:1/18:1/54.3 ± 3.6 100.4 ± 6.6   2.3 ± 0.2 182.6 ± 9.9  163 ± 11 18:2(54:4) 892T18:1 (54:3) 67.2 ± 6.7 83.0 ± 7.4 74 ± 7 894 18:0/18:1/  6.1 ± 0.7 10.0± 0.8 23.0 ± 1.2 21 ± 1 18:1(54:2) 912 18:1/18:2/ 21.7 ± 1.5 17.8 ± 1.419.5 ± 1.6 54.5 ± 3.2 49.0 ± 4   20:4(56:7) 914 18:1/18:1/ 14.5 ± 1.2 6.2 ± 0.5 14.1 ± 1.2 15.8 ± 1.4 59.0 ± 4.2 53 ± 4 20:4&(56:6) Total IonCounts* 166.6 ± 14.1 394.2 ± 31.5 167.6 ± 8.7 412.9 ± 33.8 577.8 ± 43.029.4 ± 1.8 53.5 ± 3.8 1460 ± 115 FA Content 447 ± 41 1058 ± 94  [450]1109 ± 91  1551 ± 136 79 ± 5 144 ± 10 4388 ± 368

By recording the cross-peak ion abundance of all relevant molecular ions(>1 mol % of total TG content) in the 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS)spectrum by correcting the directly measured ion intensity for ¹³Cisotope effects, a 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) matrix was obtained(Table 3). From each molecular ion in the 2D (or multidimensionalESI/MS) mass spectrum, the total carbon number and total number ofdouble bonds collectively present in the three aliphatic chains can becalculated and defined as q.p (listed in parentheses in the secondcolumn in Table 3), where q is the total carbon number and p is thedouble bond number in the three acyl chains of the TG species. Todeconvolute the molecular species information in Table 2, an iterativeprocedure must be employed.

First, the lowest abundant neutral loss ion in a row is located and forthat molecular species the other two acyl chains (m₂:n₂ and m₃:n₃ mustobey

m ₂ +m ₃ =q−m  [4]

and

n ₂ +n ₃ =p−n ₁,  [5]

where m₁, m₂, and m₃ are integers which represent total carbon numberand n₁, n₂, and n₃ represent total double bonds in three acyl chains,respectively. Since fatty acids in isobaric molecular species of TG mustcontain reciprocal changes in the carbon numbers and the number ofdouble bonds, these two acyl chains can be readily defined from ionpeaks corresponding to the neutral loss of fatty acids in the same rowof Table 3.

Next, the lowest abundant peak is subtracted from the acyl chains in m₂,and m₃.

After subtraction, the next lowest abundant ion is located and a secondround of deconvolution can be performed to identify a second isobaricmolecular species. All TG molecular species can be defined by repeatediteration of this procedure. For example, in the TG molecular speciespresent at m/z 862 (i.e., 52:4), there are five cross-peaks present inthe same row of Table 3 resulting from the neutral loss of 16:0, 16:1,18:1, 18:2, and 20:4. The lowest abundant ion present from the neutralloss of 20:4 (3.3×10³ ion counts) is utilized for the first round ofdeconvolution. The other two acyl chains must contain 32 carbons and nounits of unsaturation, which is only possible with two 16:0 chains.Thus, the molecular species is 16:0/16:0/20:4 TG which represents3.3×10³ ion counts relative to the internal standard. By subtracting thecontribution of 16:0/16:0/20:4 TG molecular species from the ionabundance of NL 16:0 in the same row, a new value is obtained which isutilized to begin the second round of deconvolution. The next lowestabundant ion is located at the cross-position reflecting NL of 16:0 with26.7×10⁹ ion counts [(33.3−6.6)×103]. Thus, the other two acyl chainsmust contain 36 carbons with 4 units of unsaturation which cansuccessfully be fit by two 18:2 chains. Therefore, the molecular speciesresponsible for these peaks is 16:0/18:2/18:2 TG with ˜27×10³ ion countsrelative to the internal standard. The remaining ions in the m/z 862 roware present in an approximate 1:1:1 ratio corresponding to a16:1/18:1/18:2 TG. Therefore, the molecular ion at m/z 862 can bedeconvoluted into parts composed of 16:0/16:0/20:4, 16:0/18:2/18:2, and16:1/18:1/18:2 TG molecular species with an approximate ratio of 1:9:10.All other molecular ions are similarly deconvoluted and the majormolecular species corresponding to each molecular ion are listed in thesecond column of the 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) matrix (Table 3).

Our example demonstrates that TG content and molecular speciescomposition are directly quantified from chloroform extracts ofbiological samples. By employing correction factors necessary toaccommodate the differential sensitivity of individual TG molecularspecies for ionization (relative to an internal standard (T17:1 TG)), TGcontent can be quantified by positive-ion ESI mass spectrometry over athree order of magnitude concentration range with less than 10% error.Moreover, by generating a 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) matrixcomprised of axes corresponding to parent ions and the neutral loss offatty acid, the methodology described herein can be used to deconvolutethe TG molecular species overlapping with other polar lipids as well ascalculate contributions of individual isobaric molecular species to eachparent ion peak. Thus, ESI/MS/MS in conjunction with appropriate matrixanalysis allows a detailed molecular species fingerprint of individualTG molecular species directly from chloroform extracts of biologicalsamples.

In an aspect, the term “matrix analysis” includes data deconvolution andoptionally data normalization.

The aforerecited expression 1-5 represent equations or algorithms whichin an aspect we applied to provide a TG molecular species determination.

Correction factors derived from the algorithm generated herein are onlyaccurate to ±5% for molecular species containing less than 8 doublebonds (collectively) and only accurate to ±15% for molecular speciescontaining 8 to 12 double bonds (collectively). Fortunately, highlypolyunsaturated TG molecular species (>8 double bonds, collectively) arerare in biological samples. If an accurate analysis of TG molecularspecies containing multiple polyunsaturated fatty acyl chains isrequired, use of additional internal standards with a similar degree ofunsaturation would be prudent. Third, both the collisional activationenergy as well as spectrometer tuning and calibration are of substantialimportance in generating a 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) matrix whichaccurately reflect TG molecular species content in the neutral lossmode. If the collisional activation energy is too high (e.g., >40 eV),fragmentation of acyl chains becomes severe and the abundance of productions corresponding to neutral loss of fatty acids from a TG molecularspecies will be compromised by the further differential fragmentation ofthese product ions. If the collisional activation energy is too low(e.g., <30 eV), the efficiency of collisional dissociation is lost andthe exquisite sensitivity of this method is compromised. Therefore, thisdc offset voltage set on the second quadrupole must be tested initiallyon each instrument. Moreover, the tuning and calibration of thespectrometer are also critical since the accuracy of this methodology isnot only dependent upon the mass accuracy of both the first and thirdquadrupoles but also dependent upon the neutral loss mass differencebetween these two analyzers. Finally, fluctuations of experimentalconditions (e.g., infusion rate, drying gas temperature and pressure,collisional gas pressure and energy, and vacuum system) during neutralloss scanning must be avoided. Averaging several sets of acquiredexperimental data at different time periods from an identical sample canminimize this type of experimental error.

Aside from the aforegoing limitations, 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS)mass spectrometry of TG molecular species is a new, rapid, andconvenient and direct approach to analyze the TG content of biologicalsamples under different pathophysiologic perturbations. Although minorerrors (typically less than 10%) are inherent in the assumptionsutilized, fingerprinting of TG molecular species in disease states bythe methods described herein provides the most discriminatingcomparisons between TG molecular species described to date. Furthermore,through the utilization of isotopically labeled fatty acids (e.g.,deuterium or 13C) and giving these to subjects or patients uniqueinsights into the turnover of individual molecular species are possiblewhich will hopefully lead to an increased understanding of the role ofTG in health and disease.

In an aspect, the above-described inventive methods are utilized byphysicians and pharmaceutical companies to determine the risk of eachindividual (or group of) molecular species as an independent factor inthe development of coronary artery disease, stroke, atherosclerosis andobesity as well as to target agents to selectively modify triglyceridemolecular species (e.g., saturated triglycerides). Coronary arterydisease, stroke, atherosclerosis and obesity are afflictions of humanswhich take hundreds of thousands of lives each year unnecessarily.Medical advances which assess the risk of an individual to develop oneor more of these afflictions are highly desired. Moreover, these methodscan be utilized to determine which lipid lowering drug is mostefficacious in clinical trials and to monitor the response of patientsto tailored drug therapy.

In an aspect these inventive methods are utilized to determine andidentify a lipid lowering drug(s) which is most efficacious in clinicaltrials and other tests and to monitor the response of patients totailored drug therapy.

Lipid lowering drugs are especially useful for treating patients whohave high levels of fat in the blood which may have come about as aresult of an inherited condition known as familial hyperlipidaemia. Suchlipid lowering drug therapy is highly desired to lower the levels of fatin the blood and to lower the risk of atherosclerosis (hardening of thearteries) and heart disease, and an early death. From vast libraries ofpotential candidate drugs for pharmacological effective treatment, themanagement of such libraries need to have better ways of assessing andidentifying those candidate drugs which have the highest potential toprovide patient lipid lowering capability in practice. In an aspect,this invention provides a method of identifying those lipid loweringdrugs which have the capability to lower lipid concentrations in theblood streams of humans after the administration of an effective amountof a lipid lowering drug to that patient.

Lipid lowering drugs are useful in treating coronary artery diseasewhich is the number one killer of Americans today. This disease iscaused by the buildup on plaque, deposits of fatty like substances andis called atherosclerosis. When a coronary artery is blocked by suchplaque a heart attack can occur which is termed a myocardial infarction.It is highly desired to identify a lipid lowering drug and to assign arisk to an individual of a potential development of a medical problemdue to high fat levels in his/her blood.

Recently there have been strides in pharmacogenomics which relates tothe tailoring of drugs for individuals based on individual genomiccharacteristics that may play an important part in the individual'sresponse to a drug. Individual drug therapy is likely to become a majortherapy in the fight against killer diseases. Treating physiciansbenefit by knowing whether a drug efficacy is subject to geneticpolymorphisms in the patient being treated which inhibit the patientsresponse to the drug treatment. Feedback to the treating physician onthe drug's biochemical response within the treated subject is of greatimportance in determining better how to use the drug in a more effectiveindividual specific therapy.

In an aspect, the methods herein are useful to indicate the risk orlikelihood of getting a disease, help confirm a diagnosis and assist inplanning or customizing patent treatment. A method for assessing andassigning a risk to each individual (or group of individuals) based onTG molecular species as an independent factor in the development of atleast one of condition in that individual for a medical conditionselected from coronary artery disease, stroke, atherosclerosis andobesity comprises analyzing a biological sample of an individual for TGmolecular species determination, administering a therapeutic amount of adrug to the individual, analyzing a corresponding biological sample ofsaid administered individual, comparing the TG molecular speciesdetermination after drug administration with the TG molecular speciesdetermination prior to the drug administration and determining a risktherefrom associated with that individual.

The comparison of the TG molecular species determination of thebiological samples is indicative of development of the condition forthat individual. A risk is assigned to that individual for a respectivemedical condition which is indicative of the risk to that individualdeveloping that respective medical condition at some time during his/herlifetime.

A method for determining an agent which selectively targets triglyceridemolecular species (e.g., saturated triglycerides) comprises analyzing abiological sample of at least one individual for TG molecular speciesdetermination, administering a therapeutic amount of a drug to theindividual, analyzing a biological sample of said administeredindividual, comparing the TG molecular species determination after saidadministration with the TG molecular species determination prior to thedrug administration and determining an effect if any on the individualof the drug administration. In an aspect, the comparison of the TGmolecular species determination of the biological samples is indicativeof development or risk of the condition for that individual.

A method of identifying a candidate lipid modulating drug having lipidmodulating drug efficacy comprises selecting a biological sample to betaken, analyzing a biological sample of at least one individual for TGmolecular species determination, administering a candidate lipidlowering drug to the individual, analyzing a biological sample of saidadministered individual, comparing the TG molecular speciesdetermination after said administration with the TG molecular speciesdetermination prior to the drug administration and determining an effectif any on the individual of the drug administration. In an aspect, thecomparison of TG analysis is indicative of the lipid metabolic alteringcapacity of an administered drug. In an aspect, the amount of candidatelipid lowering drug provided to the individual is a therapeutic amountand the drug is a pharmacologically acceptable chemical.

In an aspect, dynamic incorporation of stable isotopes 2H palmitate andoral administration the timed dynamic response to lipid loading andturnover can be assessed.

In an aspect, a method to diagnose and determine the response ofpatients to tailored drug therapy comprises analyzing a biologicalsample of at least one individual for TG molecular speciesdetermination, administering a therapeutic amount of a drug to thepatient, analyzing a biological sample of said administered to patient,comparing the TG molecular species determination after theadministration with the TG molecular species determination prior to thedrug administration and determining an effect if any on the individualof the drug administration. In an aspect, the comparison of TG analysisis indicative of a tailored drug therapy. In an aspect, the amount ofdrug provided to the individual is a therapeutic amount and the drug isa pharmacologically acceptable chemical.

In an aspect a method of screening candidate chemicals for lipidmodulating potential in a subject comprises analyzing a biologicalsample of at least one individual for TG molecular speciesdetermination, administering a drug to that biological subject,analyzing a biological sample taken from the treated subject, comparingthe TG molecular species determination of the treated subject with a TGmolecular species determination prior to the drug administration anddetermining therefrom an effect on the subject of the drugadministration. In an aspect, the comparison of TG analysis isindicative of a candidate chemical having a lipid modulating potential.In an aspect, the amount of candidate lipid lowering drug provided tothe individual is a therapeutic amount and the drug is apharmacologically acceptable chemical.

All publications, patents and patent applications are hereinincorporated by reference in their entirety to the same extent as ifeach individual publication, patent or patent application wasspecifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by referencein its entirety.

2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) Mass Spectrometric Fingerprinting ofLipid Classes, Subclasses And Individual Molecular Species Directly fromChloroform Extracts (Strategy)

ESI can also be used for molecules which do not posses any intrinsicionizable site through formation of adduct ions as illustrated in FIG.6. Thus, as long as a sufficient dipole potential is present in amolecule to interact with either a small anion or cation, it can beionized during the ESI process if appropriate conditions are utilized.For example, although triacylglycerols (TAG) containing long chain fattyacids are nonpolar lipids, TAG can be ionized and quantitated with asensitivity in the low picomole range through formation of lithiatedadducts formed from chelated lithium ions non-covalently associated withthe carbonyl in the infused solution (8, 36).

The utility of selective ESI volatization is based on the differentialpropensity of each lipid class to acquire either positive or negativecharges under the source high voltage. This was exploited to allow theresolution of lipid classes directly from chloroform extracts withoutprior chromatographic separation (25, 26). In essence, lipid classes canbe separated through their endogenous electric potential, therebyobviating multiple sequential chromatographic procedures. Throughjudicious use of sample preparation, each class of lipids can beresolved in the ionization source and individual molecular species canbe further resolved by MS and/or tandem MS. During the last decade,studies in our group and those of our colleagues have demonstrated thatESI/MS of lipids represented one of the most sensitive, discriminating,and direct methods to assess alterations in the cellular lipidome (seerefs. 25, 26, 28, 36, 37, 43, 46, 47, 48 for examples).

Through appropriate sample preparation ESI/MS allows: 1) the completequantitative analysis of lipid classes, subclasses, and individualmolecular species in minutes without prior chromatographic separation orderivatization; 2) a higher signal to noise ratio in comparison to othermass spectrometric approaches; 3) a nearly linear relationship betweenthe relative intensities of molecular ions and the mass of individuallipids over a 10,000-fold dynamic range; 4) independence of ionintensity (within experimental error (<5%)) on the nature of the polarlipid subclass or the individual molecular species; and 5) excellentreproducibility of sample measurements (<5% of experimental error).Through implementation of these techniques, a high throughput platformfor the detailed study of lipid alterations has been developed at a timewhen lipid-induced disease states are epidemic in industrialized nations(e.g., diabetes, obesity, and atherosclerosis).

The principles used in the 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) ESI/MSquantitation of cellular lipidomes directly from lipid extracts ofbiological samples are derived from the ability to induce specificanalyte-reagent ion interactions (which effectively resolve lipidclasses in the ion source) in conjunction with neutral loss orprecursor-ion scanning of each class or subgroup of ionized species.Through this approach, the individual molecular species, as well as theamounts of individual isobaric species in each ion peak, can be directlydetermined using three different analyte and reagent ion combinations asschematized in FIG. 7. Through judicious selection of ion-pairingreagents, this method can effectively fingerprint hundreds of differentlipid molecular species from multiple different lipid classes andsubclasses through the analysis of the intensities of 2D (ormultidimensional ESI/MS) cross peaks derived from neutral loss and/orprecursor-ion scanning. In this paper, we show 2D (or multidimensionalESI/MS) mass spectra of hepatic lipids under three different reagention-analyte pairings which effectively fingerprint most of the major andmany of the minor lipid classes in the mouse liver lipidome directlyfrom its crude chloroform extract.

2D (or Multidimensional ESI/MS) Mass Spectrometric Analysis of HepticLipid Classes and Molecular Species Under Condition 1

First, under condition 1 the diluted chloroform extract of liver isanalyzed directly at neutral pH by negative-ion mass spectroscopy oflithium-coordinated species which selects for ionization of anioniclipid species that possess an inherent negative charge (trace A, FIG.8). The negative-ion mass spectrum of chloroform extracts of hepatictissues acquired under condition 1 displays a molecular speciesfingerprint reflecting the presence of multiple lipid molecular ions. Todetermine the chemical structure and assignments of individual peakscorresponding to the lipid classes and molecular species, either neutralloss or precursor-ion scanning (or both) of head group loss from each ofthe lipid classes were performed in a 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS)manner (FIG. 9A). For example, precursor-ion scanning of m/z 241.1(corresponding to the presence of inositol phosphate) was used toidentify phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) molecular species; neutral lossscanning of 87.0 amu (corresponding to the presence of serine) was usedfor phosphatidylserine (PtdSer) molecular species; and precursor-ionmonitoring of m/z 153.0 (corresponding to a glycerol phosphatederivative) was used to substantiate the assignments of all anionicphospholipids [27, 28, 29, 31] (FIG. 9A). Similarly, neutral lossscanning of 50.0 amu corresponding to the loss of methyl chloride [27]was used to identify chlorinated choline-containing phospholipidmolecular species (FIG. 9A). The identity of aliphatic chains in each ofthese ion peaks was determined by the cross peaks of a 2D (ormultidimensional ESI/MS) tandem mass spectrum which consisted ofprecursor-ion scans of all naturally-occurring fatty acids (FIG. 9B).

Each of ion cross peaks in each 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) massspectrum provides essential information on the identity of the lipidclass (FIG. 9A) and the relative content of the individual molecularspecies in that class (FIG. 9B). Thus, the molecular species content isactually determined utilizing multiple different approaches from asingle lipid extract providing a detailed fingerprint in multipledimensions of the cellular anionic lipidome. The results in FIGS. 9A and9B not only identify the molecular species giving rise to the ion peaksin the pseudo 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) mass spectrum in FIG. 8,but also resolve isobaric molecular species to identify the fractionalpercentage of each molecular species contributing to the observedpseudomolecular ions. Through analysis of cross peak intensity ratios inFIG. 9B, the regiospecificity of the aliphatic chains can be determinedby previously defined fragmentation kinetics [27]. Information oncholine glycerophospholipids (PC) as their chlorine adducts can also beobtained from these 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) mass spectra (FIG.9) and can be used to confirm the molecular species assignments, toresolve the isobaric peaks, and to determine the regiospecificity of thealiphatic chains in each PC molecular species which will bequantitatively analyzed under condition 3 (see below).

Thus, 2D (or multidimensional ESIJMS) mass spectroscopic analyses undercondition 1 identified the large majority of individual molecularspecies of anionic phospholipid classes (e.g., PtdIns,phosphatidylglycerol (PtdGro), PtdSer, cardiolipin, and phosphatidicacid (PtdH)) and pseudoanionic (e.g., chlorinated PC) lipid molecularions displayed in Trace A of FIG. 8. It was previously demonstrated thatthe ionization efficiency of anionic lipids (e.g., PtdGro and PtdIns) isidentical within experimental error in dilute lipid solutions [25] andthat there is a linear relationship between ion intensity and lipidconcentration in the low concentration regime [25, 32-35]. Therefore, bycomparing the intensity of each ion peak with anionic lipid internalstandards (i.e., 15:0-15:0 PtdGro, m/z 693.6, and 14:0-14:0 PtdSer, m/z677.6) in Trace A of FIG. 8 and appropriate correction for ¹³C isotopeeffects [36,37] in conjunction with the refinement of low abundancespecies or species in isobaric ion peaks by using 2D (ormultidimensional ESI/MS) mass spectra in FIG. 9, masses of individualmolecular ions can be obtained. Through this approach, we found that themouse liver contained 3.1±0.5, 1.5±0.3, 0.8±0.1, 0.9±0.1, and 0.10±0.02nmol/mg of protein of PtdIns, PtdSer, PtdGro, cardiolipin, and PtdH,respectively. These values agree closely with previously publishedvalues of hepatic lipids in the literature determined utilizing multiplesequential column chromatographic steps which take days as opposed tominutes to perform [38-40]. It is important to remember that pH valuescan influence the charge states of PtdH and may also affect thedistribution of cardiolipin in singly-charged or doubly-charged ionicforms. Thus, similar conditions should be employed and additionalinternal standards can be used as necessary.

2D (or Multidimensional ESI/MS) Mass Spectrometric Analysis of HepaticLipid Classes and Molecular Species Under Condition 2

Next, in the presence of LiOH (FIG. 7), zwitterionic ethanolamineglycerophospholipid (PE) molecular species are rendered anionic bydeprotonation of their positively-charged amine. Negative-ion ESIresults in abundant pseudomolecular ion peaks corresponding toindividual PE molecular species which are quantified by comparison oftheir ion peak intensities with that of their internal standard (i.e.,15:0-15:0 PtdEtn) in Trace B of FIG. 8 after correction for ¹³C isotopeeffects [36,37]. Since alkalization by addition of LiOH results in theproduction of the lithium salt of doubly-charged PtdSer, PE molecularspecies are now readily resolved from their PtdSer counterparts. Otherclasses of anionic lipids (e.g., PtdGro and PtdIns) do not overlap withPE species since their endogenous masses are well separated fromethanolamine glycerophospholipid species (top trace) and due to thenitrogen rule. Moreover, the amounts of each of these anionicphospholipids are quite small in comparison to the mass of PE species.The chemical identities of these peaks (and underlying isobaricmolecular species) can be readily determined by 2D (or multidimensionalESI/MS) mass spectrometry employing precursor-ion scanning of allnaturally-occurring aliphatic chains. Inspection of the precursor ionscans readily identify the peaks at m/z 762.6 as 16:0-22:6 PtdEtn, thepeak at m/z 766.6 as 18:0-20:4 PtdEtn and the peak at m/z 790.6 as18:0-22:6 PtdEtn (FIG. 10A). There are 30.3±1.3 nmol PE/mg of protein inthe liver homogenates with major peaks at m/z 762.6 (present in 11.0±0.9nmol/mg of protein by comparison with PE internal standard), m/z 766.6(9.9±0.9 nmol/mg of protein), and m/z 790.6 (4.91±0.44 nmol/mg ofprotein). The individual molecular species composition of minor PEmolecular species corresponding to low intensity peaks (and underlyingisobaric species) could be carefully refined by 2D (or multidimensionalESI/MS) mass spectrometry employing precursor-ion scanning of allnaturally-occurring aliphatic chains (FIG. 10A). These measurementsconfirm the composition of the acyl moieties, identify theirregiospecificity, and deconvolute the relative contributions of isobaricmolecular species. Through precursor-ion scanning of naturally-occurringaliphatic chains, the cross peaks at each molecular species are inrelative proportion to the mass abundance of that aliphatic chain in thePE class of lipids (FIG. 10A).

Similarly, under condition 2, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) exist astheir lithium coordinated carboxylate anions in solution. Thus, abundantpseudomolecular ion peaks corresponding to NEFA molecular species areapparent (Trace B of FIG. 8). Through this approach, NEFA molecularspecies can be directly quantitated by comparisons of their ion peakintensities with that of their internal standard (i.e., 20:0 FA) aftercorrection for ¹³C isotope effects. It was found that there are 35.4±3.0nmol NEFA/mg protein in the liver homogenates.

The amide proton in ceramide molecular species is partially removed bybase under condition 2, allowing ceramides to be directly quantitated bycomparisons with a ceramide internal standard. However, since mosttissues contain only diminutive amounts of ceramide, we have developed a2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) tandem mass spectrometric approach toreduce background noise to measure ceramide molecular species (FIG. 9B).For analysis of ceramide molecular species containing 18-carbonsphingosine, neutral loss scanning greatly facilitates theidentification and quantification of these low abundance constituents.Since the low abundance of ceramide requires background elimination,tandem mass spectrometric scanning for neutral loss of 327.3 amu (forhydroxy ceramides) or 256.2 amu (for nonhydroxy-containing ceramides) istypically employed. As can be seen both hydroxy- andnonhydroxy-containing substituents can be easily determined (Panel E ofFIG. 7 and FIG. 10B). For quantitation, neutral loss scanning of 240.2amu (corresponding to the loss a 2-trans-palmitoleyl alcohol) can beemployed which is not sensitive to variations in the acyl chainsubstituent [36]. There was a total of 505±12 pmol of ceramide/mg ofprotein present in liver homogenates.

2D (or Multidimensional ESI/MS) Mass Spectrometric Analysis of HepticLipid Classes and Molecular Species Under Condition 3

Under condition 3, the dilute chloroform extract is at alkaline pH andthe mass spectrometer's ion source is switched to the positive-ion mode.By selecting positive ions, molecular species of PC and TAG are readilyionized while molecular classes which contain a negative charge(including anionic lipids and PE species) are largely prevented fromforming positively-charged ions during the electrospray ionizationprocess. Accordingly, the positive-ion mass spectrum contains ion peakscorresponding to lithiated phosphocholine-containing molecular species(PC, SM and minor amounts of lysophosphatidylcholine (lysoPtdCho)) andTAG molecular species (Trace C of FIG. 8). The contents of PC, SM, andlysoPtdCho molecular species were quantified by comparison of their ionpeak intensities with that of their corresponding internal standards. Wefound 45.3±1.1, 3.5±0.4, and 1.8±0.2 nmol PC, SM, and lysoPtdCho/mg ofprotein in liver homogenates, respectively, which again agree well withpreviously published values of hepatic lipids in the literaturedetermined utilizing multiple sequential column chromatographic steps[38-40]. The identities of PC and SM individual molecular species can beconfirmed and their relative abundance can be redundantly determined by2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) mass spectrometry using either condition1 or 3 in conjunction with 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) neutral lossscanning or precursor-ion scanning (FIGS. 9A and 11A). Furthermore,discrimination of SM and PC molecular species has been made either bynitrogen role or by comparisons of the tandem mass spectra acquiredunder conditions 1 and 3 with the mass spectrum obtained under condition3. In tandem mass spectra, ion peaks corresponding to the SM molecularspecies are markedly enhanced relative to the ion peaks of PC speciesdue to the differential fragmentation pattern of PC and SM speciespreviously demonstrated [27].

In addition to the identification ofphosphocholine-containing molecularspecies under condition 1 (FIG. 9), phosphocholine-containing molecularspecies can be quantified in the positive-ion mode under condition 3. A2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) approach under condition 3 providesadditional information for confirmation of the molecular identities ofcholine-containing phospholipids species and their relative abundance.Moreover, neutral loss scanning for the phosphocholine head group(neutral loss of 183.1 amu) or naturally-occurring aliphatic chains giverise to background free spectra demonstrating the relative massrepresentation of phosphocholine-containing molecular species as well aseach aliphatic chain in individual molecular species of cholineglycerophospholipids (FIG. 11A).

For triacylglycerol analysis, neutral loss scanning represents a specialcase since numerous isobaric peaks are present which preclude molecularspecies determination by product-ion analysis alone. The 2D(multidimensional) mass spectrometric approach utilizing neutral lossanalyses of all potential naturally-occurring fatty acids in TAG speciescontains critical information on the amount and identity of TAGmolecular species (FIG. 11B) as previously described [34]. For example,the abundant cross ion peaks at m/z 865.7 present in the neutral lossscanning of 254.2, 256.2, 280.2, and 282.2 amu (the broken line in FIG.11B), demonstrate that the ion peak at m/z 865.7 was an isobaric peakcomprised of lithiated 16:1-18:1-18:1 and 16:0-18:1-18:2 TAG species. Wehave identified at least 21 abundant TAG species in mouse liver (thepresent method does not distinguish regioisomers). The total amount ofTAG in mouse liver homogenates is 11.1±0.9 nmol/mg of protein.

DISCUSSION

The multi-dimensional mass spectrometric approach described in thisstudy allows the sensitive, rapid, and detailed fingerprinting ofhundreds of individual molecular species of lipids. Through multiplecomplimentary 2D and multidimensional approaches, the molecular speciescomposition is directly identified and the mass content can beiteratively and redundantly refined after it is initially determinedfrom values obtained in first dimensional mass spectra. The benefits ofthis 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) mass spectrometric approach includedefinitive peak assignments substantiated by multiple independent massspectrometric criteria, a dramatic reduction in background noise (whichis especially useful for identification and refined quantitation of lowabundance molecular species) and the direct discrimination ofcontributing isobaric molecular species. Through this approach, changesin cellular lipidomes in response to disease states, pharmacologicaltherapy, or cellular nutrient status can be identified leading toinsights into lipid-mediated disease processes. The data stream from thespectrometer using these approaches is readily adaptable to automatedanalysis utilizing appropriate weighting algorithms. A 3D configurationof ESI mass spectrum can thus be executed by data herein throughcombining 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) mass spectra for head groupanalysis with additional spectra of acyl chain distributions. Computeranalysis of these 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) or 3D mass spectra, inconjunction with algorithms for weighted combinations of appropriaterefinements, can thus provide the foundation for automated multipledimensional mass spectrometry of lipids and other cellular constituents.

ESI tandem mass spectrometry has previously demonstrated its utility forthe elucidation of lipid classes, individual molecular species, and evenregioisomers [26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 41-44]. We utilized previouslydeveloped scanning modes in combination with newly developed ones toprovide an integrated platform exploiting the intrasource separationtechnique to serve as a foundation for development of methods for thedetailed study of cellular lipidomes. The traditional 1D massspectroscopic approach requires hundreds of operator-initiatedindividual analyses to assign the chemical composition andregiospecificity of aliphatic chains. In contrast, the utilization ofthese 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) techniques allows theidentification of aliphatic chains in the peaks of interest by a highthroughput approach from a platform suitable for automation andautomated data analysis. Moreover, the present method excludescontamination of ions resulting from the presence of naturally occurring¹³C in closely neighboring peaks. The practical utility of this effectcan be seen from direct examination of spectra of PC and TAG (condition3) which both contribute ions to the observed peak at m/z 813.7 (M+1 forPC and M for TAG). In operator-initiated examination of this peak bycollision-induced dissociation, contributions of aliphatic chains in PCmolecular species (M+1) would be present at m/z 813.7 resulting from ¹³Cisotope effects. In contrast, with the 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS)techniques presented, direct assessments of aliphatic chain compositionare possible without contributions from neighboring peaks. By using this2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) approach, the identification of etherlipids now can become routine providing new technology to study the roleof ether lipids in signaling processes and human disease. Moreover,discrimination of SM and PC molecular species using the 2D (ormultidimensional ESI/MS) approach is now obvious, providinginvestigators with new tools to study sphingolipid functions in plasmamembrane and lipid rafts and its interactions with cholesterol.

In our very early studies, we found a linear relationship between ionintensity and lipid concentration in the low lipid concentration regimewhere ionization efficiency largely depends on the nature of the polarhead group of lipids (25). As an extreme case, we examined therelationship between 16:0 lysoPtdCho and 16:0-16:0 PtdCho. Addition ofselected amounts of 16:0 lysoPtdCho to a solution of containing16:0-16:0 PtdCho resulted in a linear correlation between their molarratio and the ratio of their respective sodiated ion peak intensities inpositive-ion mode after correction for ¹³C isotope effects with a slopeof 1.00 and a correlation coefficient factor (γ²) of 0.998 [25]. Thislinear relationship was independently demonstrated by multiple otherinvestigators [25, 32-35]. Therefore, this relationship serves as abenchmark for the quantitative ESI/MS analysis of lipid molecularspecies in one class using only one internal standard with ±5% ofaccuracy after correction for ¹³C isotope effects. If additionalaccuracy is sought, other structurally similar lipids should be utilizedas internal standards as necessary.

However, we stress and have emphasized that this liner relationship isvalid only at low concentrations of lipid in the infusion solution inwhich lipid-lipid interactions and ion suppression are rare [25]. Whenthe concentration of lipids in the infusion solution increases to thepoint where lipid-lipid interactions predominate, the effects of acylchain length and unsaturation on lipid quantitation become apparent.This is largely due to lipid-lipid interactions which are highlydependent on the physical properties of the lipids under study. A linearrelationship in the low concentration regime, as well as a nonlinear andstructure-dependent relationships in the high concentration regimes,have been recently demonstrated [34-35]. Another reason underlyingnonlinear relationships is that the effects of ¹³C isotope on thequantitation have not been considered by most investigators. Thisresults in a decline in ion intensity as the chain length increases(i.e., type I ¹³C isotope effect) or due to a random influence from thetype II ¹³C isotope effects [36,37]. It needs to be emphasized thatquantitation of lipid molecular species using tandem mass spectrometrymust be made with caution and appropriate justifications sincefragmentation kinetics can be substantially different depending on thecollisional activation energy employed and the structure of individualmolecular species under study [27, 35, 37, 45]. We also point outanother advantage of this 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) approach is toratiometrically compare the relative amounts of molecular species indifferent states, such as health and disease. Since the relativefragmentation rates of identical molecular species reflects theintrinsic chemical properties of the species in dilute solution,ratiometric comparison of molecular species from a given class canprovide important clues to molecular mechanisms underlying the diseaseprocess under study.

Collectively, this study presents a 2D (or multidimensional ESI/MS) ESImass spectrometric approach for the analyses of the global lipidome inbiological samples. Through quantitation of each class of lipids in anESI mass spectrum by comparisons to internal standards which possesswell-defined ionization and fragmentation characteristics similar to themolecules of interest, quantification can be readily performed. This 2D(or multidimensional ESI/MS) ESI mass spectrometric approach can bereadily automated to provide a platform for fingerprinting thousands oflipid molecular species to provide new insights into the mechanismsthrough which alterations in lipid metabolism mediate lipotoxicity andprovide a rapid method to assess the effects of diet or pharmacotherapyon lipid metabolism in multiple disease states.

A commonly-used strategy for lipidome analyses from different biologicalsamples without the need for prior chromatographic separation oflipidomes is illustrated in FIG. 12. Anionic lipids includingcardiolipin, phosphatidylglycerols (PtdGro), phosphatidylinositols(PtdIns), phosphatidylserines (PtdSer), phosphatidic acids (PtdH), andsulfatides in the diluted chloroform extracts of biological samples canbe analyzed by negative-ion ESI-MS and quantitated by comparisons of theindividual ion peak intensity with an internal standard (e.g., 14:0-14:0PtdGro for anionic phospholipids or N16:0 sulfatide for sulfatides)after correction for ¹³C isotope effects relative to the internalstandards as described (26, 49) (see ref. 36 for considerations for ¹³Cisotope effects). Previously, it has been demonstrated that differentmolecular species of anionic phospholipids have nearly identicalionization efficiencies after corrections for ¹³C isotope effects (±10%)for molecular species containing acyl chains with 14 to 20 carbons anddifferent numbers of double bonds (25). A typical negative-ion ESI/MSmass spectrum of a mouse myocardial lipid extract (FIG. 13A)demonstrates multiple abundant anionic phospholipid molecular specieswhich has been identified by tandem mass spectrometry (27, 28). Itshould be noted that ESI/MS was utilized instead of ESI tandem massspectrometry for quantitation of lipidome since the latter techniqueresults in differential fragmentation rates for individual molecularspecies containing different acyl constituents which are highlysensitive to the collisional activation energy employed (28, 36, 37,45).

Prior to the analyses of galatocerebrosides (GalC), cholineglycerophospholipids (PC), ethanolamine glycerophospholipids (PE),sphingomyelins (SM) in the diluted lipid extracts, LiOH in methanol (50nmol/mg of protein) is usually added to each individual cellular extractof biological samples to supply counter ions for GalC, PC, and SManalysis and to turn PE molecular species into anionic phospholipids,thereby achieving the separation of lipid classes in electrospray ionsource (FIG. 12). PE molecular species can then be directly quantitatedby comparison with an internal standard (e.g., 15:0-15:0 PtdEtn) aftercorrection for ¹³C isotope effects relative to the internal standard byESI/MS in negative-ion mode (FIG. 12). A typical negative-ion ESI/MSmass spectrum of the mouse myocardial lipid extract (the identicalextract used for the acquisition of FIG. 13A) after addition of a smallamount of LiOH displays multiple abundant PE molecular species (FIG.13B). Identification of ion peaks containing phosphoethanolamine can beachieved utilizing precursor-ion analysis as described previously (28).Acyl chain(s) of each individual PE molecular species can be identifiedeither utilizing product-ion ESI tandem mass spectrometry as previouslydescribed (27) or employing an efficient two-dimensional fingerprintingtechnique by ESI tandem mass scanning of all potential acyl carboxylateions in the precursor-ion mode. A typical two-dimensional precursor-ionfingerprint (FIG. 14) demonstrates different acyl chain constituents ofPE molecular species of a mouse myocardial lipid extract (the identicalextract used for the acquisition of FIG. 13B). Quantification of ionpeaks corresponding to multiple individual molecular ions can besubstantiated utilizing product-ion ESI tandem mass spectrometricanalyses as described previously (27). Plasmenylethanolamine (PlsEtn)molecular species can be distinguished from alkyl-acyl phospholipidmolecular species by treating lipid extracts with acidic vapors prior tomass spectrometric analyses as described previously (50).

PC and SM molecular species in the diluted tissue extracts can bedirectly quantitated as their lithium adducts by comparison with aninternal standard (e.g., lithiated 14:1-14:1 PtdCho) after correctionfor 13C isotope effects relative to the internal standard in thepositive-ion mode (FIG. 12). GalC molecular species in the dilutedtissue extracts can also be directly quantitated as their lithiumadducts by comparison with an internal standard (e.g., lithiatedd35-N18:0 GalC) after correction for ¹³C isotope effects relative to theinternal standard in the positive-ion mode (FIG. 12). Individualmolecular species can be identified by tandem mass spectrometry (27, 28,43). A typical positive-ion ESI/MS mass spectrum of a mouse myocardiallipid extract (the identical extract used for the acquisition of FIG.13B) demonstrates multiple abundant choline-containing phospholipidmolecular species (FIG. 13C).

Due to the low abundance of some lipid metabolites (less than a fewpercents of total lipids) in lipid extracts of biological samples,either special sample preparations or separate ESI/MS analyses typicallyneed to be performed. For example, after rendering the lipid extractsolution basic by addition of a small amount of LiOH in methanol, freefatty acids (FFA) in solution will be converted to their carboxylateanion and can be easily quantified by ESI/MS in negative-ion modescanning through the mass range from 200 to 400. Therefore,quantification is easily accomplished utilizing an internal standard(e.g., 20:0 FFA). A typical negative-ion ESI mass spectrum of a mousemyocardial lipid extract in the presence of a small amount of LiOH (theidentical solution used for the acquisition of FIGS. 13B and 13C)displays very abundant FFA molecular species (FIG. 15A).

It has been demonstrated that non-hydroxy and 2-hydroxy subclasses ofceramide molecular species displayed distinct fragmentation patterns inproduct-ion ESI tandem mass spectra (37). A unique abundant product ioncorresponding to the neutral loss of mass 256.2 or 327.3 u is present inthe fragmentation pattern of non-hydroxy or 2-hydroxy ceramide molecularspecies, respectively. Thus, negative-ion neutral loss scannings of mass256.2 and 327.3 u during direct infusion of crude lipid extracts in thepresence of LiOH can be performed to identify non-hydroxy and 2-hydroxyceramide molecular species in the lipid extracts (37). In addition, acommon product ion with identical abundance corresponding to the neutralloss of mass 240.2 u for both subclasses of ceramide is also present inall product-ion mass spectra of ceramides containing N-acyl sphingosinewith an 18-carbon homolog. Thus, quantitation of ceramide molecularspecies from crude extracts of biological samples in comparisons with aninternal standard after correction for ¹³C isotope effects can beachieved by neutral loss scanning of mass 240.2 u (37). For example,negative-ion ESI tandem mass spectrometry with neutral loss scanning ofmass 240.2 u of a mouse myocardial lipid extract in the presence of asmall amount of LiOH (the identical solution used for the acquisition ofFIGS. 13 and 15A) demonstrates over 10 ceramide molecular species (FIG.15B) which can be quantified in comparisons to an internal standard(N17:0 ceramide (m/z 550.6)).

Intriguingly, TAG (a class of nonpolar lipids) also show abundantlithiated ions in positive-ion ESI mass spectra of lipid extracts underthe ionization conditions employed (FIG. 13C). However, direct TAGquantitation as their lithiated adducts by positive-ion ESI/MS is stillconfounded by the presence of overlapping peaks from cholineglycerophospholipids and the presence of multiple isobaric molecularspecies in the majority of TAG pseudomolecular ion peaks (FIG. 13C).Accordingly, we have recently exploited the rapid loss of phosphocholinefrom choline glycerophospholipids in conjunction with neutral-lossscanning of individual fatty acids of TAG to directly quantitate TAGfrom biological extracts 36). Deconvolution of overlapping and isobaricpeaks in the positive-ion ESI mass spectra of lipid extracts bytwo-dimensional fatty acyl group analyses is accomplished by iterativeprocessing resulting in a detailed molecular species fingerprint ofindividual TAG molecular species directly from chloroform extracts ofbiological samples. A typical two-dimensional fingerprint of TAGmolecular species of a mouse myocardial lipid extract (as shown in FIG.13C) demonstrates the lipid constituents (FIG. 16). In this figure, theimportance of the rapid loss of phosphocholine from PC and its impact onleaving the TAG molecular species behind for neutral loss analyses offatty acyl chains is been well demonstrated. For example, the spectrumacquired from neutral loss scanning of 328.3 u (corresponding to 22:6FFA) displays very low abundant ion peaks corresponding to PC molecularspecies containing 22:6 while the abundant displayed peaks in theneutral loss spectrum are those from low abundant TAG ion peaks in theMS spectrum. This method readily detects as little as 0.1 pmol of eachTAG molecular species from crude lipid extracts and is linear over a1000-fold dynamic range (36). Therefore, fingerprinting and quantitationof individual TAG molecular species directly from chloroform extracts ofbiological samples can be achieved with an error of approximately 10%which has been routinely attained in our laboratories (36, 51-53).

While the present invention has been described with reference to whatare presently considered to be the preferred examples, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited to the examples herein.Rather the scope of the invention is intended to cover variousmodifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

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1. A method for assessing a risk to an individual based on molecularspecies as an independent factor in the development of at least onecondition in that individual for a medical condition selected fromcoronary artery disease, diabetes, stroke, atherosclerosis and obesity,wherein the method comprises: subjecting a first biological sample takenof an individual to a mass spectrometer for molecular speciesdetermination by comparing peaks heights of a plot of molecular ions ofa lipid extract of the molecular species versus at least one of neutralloss scans and precursor ion scans of at least one of fatty acids andlipid classes that include constituents present in the lipid extract;administering a therapeutic amount of a drug to the individual;subjecting a corresponding biological sample of the individual; andcomparing the molecular species determination after drug administrationwith the molecular species determination prior to the drugadministration.
 2. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein thecomparison of the molecular species determination of the biologicalsamples is indicative of development of the condition for thatindividual.
 3. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein said massspectrometer is a two dimensional electrospray ionization tandem massspectrometry (ESI/MS/MS).
 4. A method in accordance with claim 1 whereinsaid lipid comprises at least one of phospholipids (e.g., cholineglycerophospholipides (e.g., plasmenycholine, phosphatidylcholine,plasmanylcholine), sphingomeyelin, ethanolamine glycerophospholipids,mono and dimethyl ethanolamine, glycerophospholipds, serineglycerophospholipids, inositol glycerophospholipids, cardiolipin,phosphatidic acid, phosphatidylglycerol, phasphatidylethanol andoxidized derivatives thereof), fatty acids, fatty amides, eicosanoids,sphingolipids, glycolipids, steroids, ceramides, acylCoA, acylcarnitine,acylprotiens, acylpeptides, diglycerides, monoglycerides, anadamide and2-arachidonyl glycerol.
 5. A method for identifying an agent whichselectively targets specific to at least one of a lipid andtriacylglyceride molecular species, wherein the method comprises:subjecting a first biological sample of at least one treated individualto a mass spectrometer for molecular species or lipid molecular speciesdetermination by comparing peaks heights of a plot of molecular ions ofa lipid extract of the molecular species versus at least one of neutralloss scans and precursor ion scans of the lipid extract; administering adrug to the individual; subjecting a second biological sample from theindividual to the mass spectrometer; and comparing the molecular speciesdetermination after said administration with the molecular speciesdetermination prior to drug administration.
 6. A method in accordancewith claim 5 wherein said comparison of the molecular speciesdetermination of the biological samples is indicative of development ofthe condition for that individual.
 7. A method in accordance with claim5 wherein said mass spectrometer is a two dimensional electrosprayionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI/MS/MS).
 8. A method ofidentifying a candidate lipid modulating drug having lipid modulatingdrug efficacy, wherein the method comprises: subjecting a firstbiological sample of at least one individual subject to a massspectrometer for molecular species determination by comparing peaksheights of a plot of molecular ions of a lipid extract of the molecularspecies versus at least one of neutral loss scans and precursor ionscans of the lipid extract; administering a therapeutic amount of acandidate lipid modulating drug to the individual subject; subjecting asecond biological sample of the individual to the mass spectrometer; andcomparing the molecular species determination after said administrationwith the molecular species determination prior to the drugadministration.
 9. A method in accordance with claim 8 wherein said massspectrometer is a two dimensional electrospray ionization tandem massspectrometry (ESI/MS/MS).
 10. A method in accordance with claim 8wherein said comparison is indicative of a lipid modulating capacity ofan administered drug.
 11. A method in accordance with claim 10 whereinsaid modulating comprises lowering.
 12. A method for diagnosing anddetermining the response of a patient to tailored drug therapy, whereinthe method comprises: subjecting a first biological sample of a patientto be treated to a mass spectrometer for molecular species or lipidmolecular species determination by comparing peaks heights of a plot ofmolecular ions of a lipid extract of the molecular species versus atleast one of neutral loss scans and precursor ion scans of the lipidextract; administering an amount of a drug to the patient; subjecting asecond biological sample taken from the treated patient; and comparingthe molecular species determination after the administration with themolecular species determination prior to the drug administration.
 13. Amethod in accordance with claim 12 wherein said comparison of analysisis indicative of a successful tailored drug therapy.
 14. A method inaccordance with claim 12 wherein said mass spectrometer is a twodimensional electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry(ESI/MS/MS).
 15. A method of determining a subject's response toadministration of a drug, wherein the method comprises: subjecting afirst biological sample of at least one treated subject to amultidimensional ESI/MS for molecular species or lipid molecular speciesdetermination by comparing peaks heights of a plot of molecular ions ofa lipid extract of the molecular species versus at least one of neutralloss scans and precursor ion scans of the lipid extract; administering adrug to the subject; and subjecting a second biological sample taken ofa subject to multidimensional ESI/MS for lipid molecular analysis byfollowing said administration, molecular species and quantitation,wherein the biological sample is analyzed by comparing peaks heights ofa plot of molecular ions of a lipid extract of the molecular speciesversus at least one of neutral loss scans and precursor ion scans of atleast one of fatty acids and lipid classes that include constituentspresent in the lipid extract.
 16. A method in accordance with claim 15wherein the subject is human.